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LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 


founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


Ube  1knickerl)oc??er  Xtterature 
Series 


Edited  by  Frank  Lincoln  Olmsted 


THE   FIRST   ISSUES  ARE  : 

I. — Episodes  from  the  Winning  of  the  West. 
By  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

II. — Abraham  Lincoln.     By  Noah  Brooks, 

III. — Astoria,    and   Adventures    of    Captain 
Bonneville.     By  Washington  Irving. 

IV. — The  Last  of  the  Mohicans.     By  James 
Fenimore  Cooper. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW    YORK  AND   LONDON 


Ubc  Ikntcherbocfter 
literature  Series 

EDITED    BY 

rranK  Lir\colr\  Olmsted 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 
From  a  drawing  from  life  by  F.  B.  Carpenter. 


Abraham  Lincoln 

His  Youth  anc    Karly  Maniood 

With  a  Brief  Account  of 

His  Later  Life 

By 

Noah  Brooks 

Author  of  "  The  Boy  Emigrants,"  "  The  Fairport  Nine," 
"American  Statesmen,"  etc. 

'Sf 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York   and  London 

^ht   MnitkErbocIur  IBxtss 
I90I 

-^ 

Copyright  by 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

1888 

Copyright,  1894 

BY 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 
Copyright,  1901 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Ube  "Rnlcftcrbochet  Pveee,  flew  ^ot^ 


•t-C-tf-C-vi-Wi^ 


r^-. 


O  CAPTAIN  !  MY  CAPTAIN  ! 

O  Captain  !  my  Captain  !  our  fearful  trip  is  done, 
The  ship  has  weather'd  every  rack,  the  prize  we  sought  is  well, 
The  port  is  near,  the  bells  I  hear,  the  people  all  exulting, 
While  follow  eyes  the  steady  keel,  the  vessel  grim  and  daring. 
But  O  heart !  heart !  heart ! 
O  the  bleeding  drops  of  red, 
Where  on  the  deck  my  Captain  lies, 
Fallen  cold  and  dead. 

O  Captain  !  my  Captain  !  rise  up  and  hear  the  bells  ; 
Rise  up — for  you  the  flag  is  flung — for  you  the  bugle  trills, 
For  you  bouquets  and  ribbon'd  wreaths — for  you  the  shores 

a-crowding, 
For  you  they  call,  the  swaying  mass,  their  eager  faces  turning  ; 
Here  Captain  !  dear  father  ! 
This  arm  beneath  your  head  ! 

It  is  some  dream  that  on  the  deck 
You've  fallen  cold  and  dead. 

My  Captain  does  not  answer,  his  lips  are  pale  and  still, 
My  father  does  not  feel  my  arm,  he  has  no  pulse,  no  will, 
The  ship  is  anchor'd  safe  and  sound,  its  voyage  closed  and  done. 
From  fearful  trip  the  victor  ship  comes  in  with  object  won. 
Bxult  O  shores,  and  ring  O  bells  ! 
But  I  with  mournful  tread, 
Walk  the  deck  my  Captain  lies, 
Fallen  cold  and  dead. 

— Whitman. 


iii 


M^ 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

R.  BROOKS'S  story  of  the  life  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln is  a  distinct  addition  to  our  knowledge  of 
the  man  and  of  the  scenes  through  which  he  passed  in 
becoming  an  uplifter  of  the  human  race.  Mr.  Brooks 
knew  Lincoln  well  in  Illinois,  as  well  as  later  in  Wash- 
ington. He  was  himself  a  pioneer  during  some  of  the 
most  stirring  times  on  the  border,  and,  in  consequence, 
he  has  written  in  unusual  sympathy  with  the  difl&culties 
and  triumphs  of  border  life. 

In  the  crude  surroundings  that  then  were  the  lot 
of  all,  the  story  of  Lincoln's  youth  and  early  manhood 
possesses  a  peculiar  interest.  In  such  a  tale  we  catch 
gleams  of  a  true  nature  tucked  away  in  the  lank  form 
and  homespun,  and  we  watch  a  character  grow  clear- 
outlined  through  the  power  of  a  strong  moral  nature. 
The  wilderness  afforded  splendid  tests  of  manly  quali- 
ties, and  kept  the  weak  at  bay.  The  axe,  the  maul, 
and  the  grubbing-hoe  answered  only  to  the  quick  eye 
and  the  sinewy  frame.  Abraham  Lincoln,  strong- 
hearted  and  true,  swung,  split,  and  dug  in  *'  the  land 
of  full-grown  men  ' ' ;  and  he  emerged  thence  a  leader 
among  men. 

His  experiences  were  singularly  varied  and  dramatic; 
yet,  in  the  main,  they  were  typical  of  unnamed  thou- 
sands of  our  fellows  who  wrote  on  the  broad  West  the 

strongest  characteristics  of  our  race. 

F.  L.  O. 

Pine  Lodge, 

December  i,  1900. 


PREFACE 

IN  writing  this  brief  biography,  I  have  been  moved  by 
a  desire  to  give  to  the  present  generation,  who  will 
never  know  aught  of  Abraham  I^incoln  but  what  is 
traditional,  a  lifelike  picture  of  the  man  as  many  men 
knew  him.  To  do  this,  it  has  been  necessary  to  paint 
in  a  background  of  the  history  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived,  and  to  place  the  illustrious  subject  in  his  true 
relation  to  the  events  in  which  he  was  so  large  a 
participant. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  know  Lincoln  with  some 
degree  of  intimacy,  our  acquaintance  beginning  with 
the  Fremont  campaign  of  1856,  when  I  was  a  resident 
of  Illinois,  and  continuing  through  the  Lincoln-Douglas 
canvass,  two  years  later.  That  relation  became  more 
intimate  and  confidential  when,  in  1862,  I  met  Lincoln 
in  Washington  and  saw  him  almost  daily  until  his 
tragical  death.  Many  things  relating  to  his  early  life, 
herein  set  down,  were  derived  from  his  own  lips,  often 
during  hours  of  secluded  companionship. 

The  simplest  truth  is  always  best ;  and  the  simpler 
and  more  direct  the  biographical  sketch  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  the  more  deeply  will  his  image  be  impressed 
upon  the  heart  of  that  * '  common  people ' '  whom  he 
loved  so  well  and  of  whom  he  was  the  noblest  repre- 
sentative. In  this  book  it  has  been  the  author's  aim  to 
present  a  definite  and  authoritative  likeness  of  the  man 
whose  name  is  now  enrolled  highest  among  the  types 
of  our  National  ideals. 

Noah  Brooks. 


vn 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — ThK  lylNCOI^N  ANCKSTRY I 

II.— The  Boyhood  of  Lincoi,n        ....       9 

III. — Young  Manhood 18 

IV.— The  L1NC01.NS  IN  Ii,i;iNois        ....      30 

V. — A  Pl,UNGE  INTO  POI^ITICS 37 

VI.— The  Young  Poi^itician     .....      46 

VII.— Winning  his  Way 60 

VIII.— The  Rising  PouTician 68 

IX.— IviNcoi,N  THE  Lawyer 84 

X. — The  Great  Awablening    .        .        .        .        .90 

XI.— The  Kansas  Struggi^e 98 

XII. — Lincoln  and  Dougi^as 103 

XIII.— After  a  Great  Struggi^e        .        .        .       .117 

XIV.— Bisected  to  the  Presidency  .        .        .        .125 

XV.— From  SPRiNGFiEiyD  To  Washington       .        .    135 

XVI.— IvIncoi<n's  Inauguration 144 

XVII.— President  Abraham  Lincoln.        .        .        .    148 

XVEII.— The  Slavery  Question 156 

XIX.— A  Difficult  Military  Situation  .        .        .165 

XX. — Political  Complications 179 

XXI.— End  of  a  Strange  and  Eventful  History.    188 

ix 


II.I.USTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Abraham  Lincoi^n Frontispiece 

From  a  drawing  from  life  by  F.  B.  Carpenter. 

LiNCOi<N's   KARI.Y   Home  in  Hardin  County,   Ken- 
tucky     4 

His  father  built  this  cabin  and  moved  into  it  when 
Abraham  was  an  infant,  and  resided  there  until 
the  boy  was  seven  years  of  age,  when  he  removed 
to  Indiana. 

The  Hai,f-Faced  Camp lo 

Ivincoln's  home  in  Indiana  during  the  winter  of 
1816-17. 

Study  by  the  Fireside   .        .        .        ...        .        .20 

A  Page  from  I^incoi^n's  "Book  of  Exampi^es"        .      24 

A  Mississippi  River  Fi<atboat 28 

IvIncoi^n's   Encounter  with  Jack  Armstrong   and 
THE  Ci,ary's  Grove  "  Boys  " 34 

A  Log-Cabin  Parade  (Campaign  of  1840)  in  Favor 

of  Wii<wam  Henry  Harrison  for  President    .      58 

Lincoi^n's  Home  in  Springfiei*d,  Ii,i,inois  ...      80 

A  Wide-Awake  Procession  in  i860  during  IvIncoi,n's 
First  Presidentiai,  Campaign        .       .        .       .132 


XI 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS 

1619 — Slavery  introduced  into  Virginia. 

1638 — Lincolri's  ancestors  come  from  England  and  settle  in 
Hingham,  Massachusetts. 

1778 — Birth  oi  Lincoln's  father,  Thomas  Lincoln^  in  Virginia. 

1782 — Lincoln's  grandfather  moves  with  his  family  to  Ken- 
tucky. 

Thej  Ordinance  of  1787  forbids  forever  slavery  within 
the  Northwest  Territory  (afterwards  the  States  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin). 

1777-1804 — New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey  free  their  slaves, 
or  provide  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  within 
their  borders. 

1793 — The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  provides  for  the  capture  and  re- 
turn of  fugitive  slaves. 

1806 — Thomas  Lincoln  is  married  to  Nancy  Hanks. 

1808 — Foreign  slave-trade  forbidden,  and  is  later  (1820)  declared 
to  be  piracy. 

Abraham  Lincoi^n  is  born  in  Larue  County,  Kentucky,  Feb- 
ruary 12,  1809. 

1816 — The  Lincoln  family  removes  to  Spencer  County,  Indiana. 

1818 — The  death  oi  Lincoln'' s  mother,  Nancy  Hanks  Lincoln. 

1819 — His  father,  Thomas,  marries  Mrs.  Sally  Johnston. 

1820 — The;  Missouri  Compromise  ; 

Missouri  admitted  as  a  slave  State  ; 

Slavery  prohibited  north  of  36"  30',  west  of  Missouri. 

xiii 


xiv  Important  Events 

1826 — Abraham  Lincoln  builds  a  boat  and  takes  farm  produce 
to  a  neighboring  post,  and  in  1827  makes  his  first  voy- 
age down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans. 

1830 — Lincoln  goes  with  his  father  and  family  to  Illinois,  near 
Decatur,  where  he  aids  in  clearing  and  fencing  a  new 
farm.  Then,  being  of  age,  he  starts  out  for  himself, 
making  a  second  trip  down  the  Mississippi  (1831),  and 
managing  a  country  store  on  his  return. 

1832 — He  studies  law,  and  runs  for  the  Legislature,  meantime 
enlisting  for  the  Black  Hawk  War.  Defeated  for  of- 
fice, he  buys  out  a  local  store,  forming  the  firm  of 
Berry  &  Lincoln.  But  he  fails,  tries  surveying,  and 
more  law,  and  is  appointed  postmaster  of  New  Salem 
(May,  1833). 

1834 — He  is  elected  to  the  Legislature,  serving  several  terms. 
Stone-Lincoln  protest.  The  Long  Nine  and  the  re- 
moval of  the  capitol  from  Vandalia  to  Springfield. 

1837 — He  removes  to  Springfield  and  sets  up  in  the  practice  of 
the  law  in  partnership  with  John  T.  Stuart. 

1840 — Shields-Lhicoln  "duel."  Lincoln  becomes  engaged  to 
Mary  Todd,  whom  he  marries,  Nov.  4.  He  is  a  presi- 
dential elector  on  the  Whig  ticket,  aiding  in  the  elec- 
tion of  William  Henr}'  Harrison. 

1841 — Lincoln  forms  a  partnership  with  Stephen  T.  Logan,  and 
in  1843  with  William  H.  Herndon. 

1842 — The  United  States  and  England  unite  to  suppress  the 
slave-trade,  each  country  maintaining  vessels  off  the 
coast  of  Africa. 

1844 — Lincoln  deeply  grieved  at  the  defeat  of  Henry  Clay  for 
the  presidency.  He  visits  Lexington,  Kentucky 
(1846),  to  hear  Clay  speak  and  to  meet  him. 

1846 — Defeats  Peter  Cartwright  for  Congress. 

1846-8 — The  Mexican  War,  waged  principally  to  open  more 
territory  to  slavery. 

1847 — (Dec.)  Lincoln  takes  his  seat  in  Congress. 

1848— The  **  Spot  "  Resoi,UTIONS.  He  aids  in  nominating  and 
electing  General  Zachary  Taylor  to  the  presidency. 


Important  Events  xv 

1849 — Lincoln  is  refused  an  office,  and  he  declines  a  governor- 
ship. 
Thk  Compromise  of  1850. 

California  to  be  admitted  as  a  free  State. 
New  Mexico  and  Utah  to  be  formed  into  Territories  with- 
out the  Wilmot  Proviso. 
A  new  and  stringent  fugitive  slave  law  to  be  passed. 
The  abolition  of  the  slave-trade,  but   not   of   slavery, 
within  the  District  of  Columbia. 

1852 — Franklin   Pierce  defeats  the  Whig  candidate  for  the 
presidency. 
Unci<E  Tom's  Cabin  is  published. 

1854— The  Kansas  and  Nebraska  BiIvI,  {Douglas)  directly 
repeals  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  opens  these  two 
new  Territories  (Kansas  and  Nebraska)  to  slavery. 
Squatler  Sovereignty.  Douglas,  refused  a  hearing  in 
Chicago,  speaks  at  Springfield  and  Peoria.  Lincoln 
replies.  Lincoln  makes  way  for  Trumbull  in  the  sen- 
atorial contest. 
The  struggle  for  Kansas  begins. 
"  Dave  "  Atchison,  "  Ossawattomie  "  Brown. 

1856 — The  Republican  party  is  formed  to  oppose  the  spread  of 
slavery.     It  nominates  as  its  candidate  John  C.  Fre- 
mont.   James  Buchanan  is  elected  President,  securing 
174  electoral  votes  to  Fremont's  114. 
The  IvCcompton  Constitution. 

1857— The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  declares 
that  Dred  Scott  is  a  slave,  that  slaves  are  property, 
and  that  Congress  cannot  shut  property  from  the 
Territories. 

1858— The  Lincoi.n-Dougi,as  debates  in  the  contest  for  the 
seat  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
Douglas  wins  the  election. 

1859— John  Brown  seizes  the  United  States  Arsenal  at  Harper's 
Ferry. 

1859-60 — Lincoln  visits  Kansas. 

i860— The  Cooper  Union  Speech. 

The  Democratic  party  splits,   one  faction   nominating 
John  C.  Breckinridge,  the  other,  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 


XVI  Important  Events 

The  Republicans  (June  i8)  choose  Abraham  Lincoln  as 
their  nominee. 

L1NC01.N  IS  KI.ECTED  (Nov). 

South  Carolina  (Nov.  17)  secedes  from  the  Union,  fol- 
lowed by  Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Ivou- 
isiana,  and  Texas. 

1861 — ^Jan.  9,  Steamer  Star  of  the  West,  bringing  supplies  to 
Fort  Sumter,  is  fired  on. 

Jan.  29,  Kansas  is  admitted  as  a  free  State. 

Feb.  4,  The  so-called  CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  Amer- 
ica are  organized. 

March  4,  L1NC01.N  is  INAUGURATED  XVI  PRESIDENT  OF 
THE  United  States. 

March  9,  The  rebel  Congress  meets. 

April  14,  Surrender  of  Fort  Sumter. 

April  15,  President  Lincoln  issues  a  call  for  troops,  and 
declares  (April  19)  the  Southern  ports  in  a  state  of 
blockade. 

July  4,  Congress  meets  in  special  session. 

Mason  and  Slidell.  ' 

1862— March-July,  The  Peninsdi^ar  Campaign. 

Aug.  5,  The  defeat  of  the  Union  forces  under  Pope  in 

the  Second  Battle  0/ Bull  Run. 
Sept.  17,  Antietatn. 

Sept.  22,  The  preliminary  Emancipation  Proclamation. 
McClellan  is  superseded  by  Burnside,  who  is  defeated  at 

Fredericksburg,  and  is  in  turn  succeeded  by  Hooker. 

1863— Jan.  I,  Issue  of  the  finai.  Emancipation  Proci^ama- 
tion. 

May  3,  The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  Hooker,  de- 
feated at  Chancellor sville. 

July  1-3,  Gettysburg. 

July  4,  Vicksburg. 

Nov.  24-25,  Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge. 

1864 — March  9,  Grant  made  Lieutenant-General,  and  (March 
12)  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  Union  forces. 
May-June,  The  Wii^derness  Campaign. 


Important  Events  xvii 

May  6,  Sherman  begins  operations  against  Johnston, 
captures  Atlanta  (Sept.  2),  marches  through  Georgia^ 
and  takes  Savannah  (Dec.  22). 

1865 — April  3,  The  fall  of  Richmond ;  Lincoln  enters  the  city 
on  foot. 
April  9,  Ivce  surrenders  at  Appomattox  Court-House. 

April  14,  LiNCOIvN  IS  SHOT,  DYING  THE  NEXT  MORNING. 

May  4,  His  body  is  laid  to  rest  at  Springfield,  Illinois. 
Dec.  18,  the  XIII  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  pro- 
hibits slavery  in  the  United  States. 

1866— Civil  Rights  Bill. 

1868 — The  XIV  Amendment  secures  to  the  freedman  the  right 
of  citizenship. 

1870 — The  XV  Amendment  gives  the  negro  the  right  to  vote. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   lylNCOI^N   ANCESTRY 

THE  lyincolns  originally  came  from  England,  settling 
in  Hingham,  Massachusetts,  about  the  year  1638. 
Thence  to  Pennsylvania  went  Mordecai  Lincoln,  the 
great-great-grandfather  of  the  President.  The  later 
Lincolns,  Abraham  lyincoln  and  his  sons,  Mordecai, 
Josiah,  and  Thomas  went  from  Virginia  to  Mercer 
County,  Kentucky,  in  the  year  1782.  At  that  time 
Kentucky  was  a  part  of  the  great  State  of  Virginia. 
It  was  almost  an  untrodden  wilderness,  and  the  few 
settlers  who  were  scattered  over  its  vast  area  were 
brave,  hardy,  adventurous,  and  sometimes  terrible  men. 
To  the  savages  who  roamed  the  forests  they  were,  in- 
deed, a  terror  and  a  constant  threat.  The  Indians, 
irritated  by  the  unceasing  incoming  of  the  whites,  and 
vainly  thinking  that  they  could  stem  the  tide  that 
poured  in  upon  them,  were  always  at  war  with  the  in- 
truders, and  they  omitted  no  opportunity  to  pick  them 
off  singly,  or  to  drive  them  out  by  sudden  and  deadly 
attacks  on  small  settlements. 

Abraham   Lincoln,    grandfather  of   the    President, 


2  Abraham  Lincoln 

entered  four  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  south  side 
of  Licking  Creek,  under  a  Government  warrant,  and 
he  built  a  log  cabin  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Louisville,  Kentucky.  Here  the  family  began  to  open 
their  farm,  breaking  up  the  virgin  soil  and  planting 
their  first  crops.  In  the  second  year  of  their  Kentucky 
settlement,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  son  Thomas 
being  at  work  in  the  field,  a  sneaking  Indian  waylaid 
the  twain,  and,  firing  from  the  brush,  killed  the  father 
at  his  task.  Mordecai  and  Josiah,  the  elder  brothers, 
were  chopping  in  the  forest  near  at  hand,  and,  while 
Josiah  ran  to  the  fort  for  help,  Mordecai  dashed  into 
the  cabin  and  seized  the  ever-ready  rifle.  Looking 
through  one  of  the  port-holes  cut  in  the  logs,  he  saw 
the  Indian,  who,  taking  advantage  of  the  flight  of  the 
boys,  had  seized  little  Tom,  then  only  six  years  old, 
and  was  making  off  with  him  to  the  woods.  Levelling 
his  rifle,  Mordecai  shot  and  killed  the  Indian,  and,  as 
he  dropped  to  the  ground,  the  boy,  liberated  by  the 
death  of  his  would-be  captor,  sprang  to  his  feet  and  fled 
to  the  cabin  w^here  he  was  clasped  in  his  mother's  arms. 
Josiah  speedily  returned  from  the  fort  with  a  party  of 
settlers  who  took  up  the  bodies  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  his  slayer. 

This  scene,  as  may  be  imagined,  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  the  minds  of  the  three  boys.  It  is  said  that 
Mordecai,  standing  over  the  form  of  his  slain  father, 
on  the  soil  to  be  knowm  for  generations  thereafter  as 
' '  the  dark  and  bloody  ground, ' '  vowed  that  the  precious 
life  should  be  richly  paid  for  in  Indian  blood.  Certain 
it  is  that,  from  that  time  forth,  Mordecai  Lincoln  was 
the  mortal  enemy  of  the  red  man,  and  many  an  Indian 
fell  before  his  terrible  rifle. 

By  this  lamentable  death,   the   widow  of  Abraham 


The   Lincoln  Ancestry  3 

Lincoln  was  left  alone  to  care  for  five  children  —  Mor- 
decai,  Josiah,  Thomas,  Mary,  and  Nancy.  In  the 
hard,  rude  life  of  the  frontier,  in  ignorance  and  poverty 
Thomas  Lincoln,  destined  to  be  the  father  of  the  Presi- 
dent, grew  to  man's  estate.  In  later  years,  his  son 
Abraham,  asked  to  tell  what  he  knew  of  his  father's 
life,  said,  **  My  father,  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  his 
father,  was  but  six  years  old,  and  he  grew  up  literally 
without  education."  He  was  a  tall,  well-built,  and 
muscular  man,  quick  with  his  rifle,  an  expert  hunter, 
good-natured  and  easy-going,  but  neither  industrious 
nor  enterprising.  Unable  to  read  until  after  his  mar- 
riage, he  invariably  put  on  his  lack  of  education  all 
responsibility  for  his  failures  in  life  ;  and  these  were 
many.  To  his  credit  it  should  be  said  that  he  resolved 
no  child  of  his  should  ever  be  crippled  as  he  had  been 
for  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  commonest  rudiments  of 
learning. 

While  yet  a  lad,  Thomas  hired  himself  to  his  uncle, 
Isaac  Lincoln,  then  living  on  a  claim  that  he  had  taken 
on  Watauga  Creek,  a  branch  of  the  Holston  River. 
Manual  labor  filled  the  years  of  Tom's  young  manhood. 
Felling  forests,  breaking  up  the  soil,  building  the  rude 
cabins  of  the  time,  and  rearing  the  crops  needed  for 
the  sustenance  of  the  hardy  settlers  and  their  broods — 
these  were  the  occupations  of  those  years.  Thomas 
Lincoln  was  a  laboring  man,  working  for  others,  and 
compelled  to  take  for  wages  whatever  he  could  get  in 
a  region  where  every  man  wrought  with  his  own 
hands  and  few  hired  from  others. 

Thomas  Lincoln  was  married,  in  1806,  to  Nancy 
Hanks,  formerly  of  Virginia.  The  young  bride  was 
taken  by  her  husband  to  a  rude  log  cabin  that  he  had 
built   for  himself  near  Nolin  Creek,  in  what  is  now 


4  Abraham  Lincoln 

Larue  County,  Kentucky.  In  this  cabin,  February 
12,  1809,  was  born  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was  to  be 
the  sixteenth  President  of  the  United  States.  While 
he  was  yet  an  infant,  the  family  removed  to  another 
log  cabin  not  far  distant,  and  in  these  two  homes 
Abraham  Lincoln  spent  the  first  seven  years  of  his  life. 
A  sister,  Sarah,  was  older  than  he  ;  and  a  younger 
brother,  Thomas,  died  in  infancy. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  was  described  by  her  son  Abraham  as 
of  medium  stature,  dark,  with  soft  and  rather  mirthful 
eyes.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  force  of  character  and 
passionately  fond  of  reading.  Kvery  book  on  which 
she  could  lay  hands  was  eagerly  read,  and  her  son  said, 
years  afterwards,  that  his  earliest  recollection  of  his 
mother  was  of  his  sitting  at  her  feet  with  his  sister, 
drinking  in  the  tales  and  legends  that  were  read  or 
related  to  them  by  the  house-mother. 

Theirs  was  a  very  humble  home.  The  mother  was 
used  to  the  rifle,  and  not  only  did  she  bring  down  the 
bear,  or  deer,  and  dress  its  flesh  for  the  family  table, 
but. her  skilful  hand  wrought  garments  and  moccasins 
and  head-gear  from  the  skins.  The  most  vivid  impres- 
sion that  we  have  of  the  mother  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
is  one  of  sadness,  toil,  and  unremitting  anxiety.  That 
was  a  hard  life  for  a  sensitive  and  slender  woman  ;  for 
the  country  was  very  poor  in  all  that  makes  life  easy, 
and  the  little  family  was  far  from  any  considerable 
settlement. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  taught  her  two  children  their  first  les- 
sons in  the  alphabet  and  spelling.  When  Abraham 
was  in  his  seventh  year,  Zachariah  Riney  came  into 
the  vicinity  and  the  lad  was  sent  to  his  school.  Later 
on,  Caleb  Hazel,  a  spirited  and  manly  young  fellow, 
succeeded  Riney  as  teacher,   and  Abraham  attended 


1/     -"C*.    -*''^; 


H,, 


'^t^i>*< 


LINCOLN'S  EARLY  HOME  IN   HARDIN  COUNTY,   KENTUCKY. 

His  father  built  this  cabin,  and  moved  into  it  when   Abraham  was  an  infant,  and 
resided  there  until  the  boy  was  seven  years  of  age,  when  he  removed  to  Indiana. 


The  Lincoln  Ancestry  5 

his  school  three  months.  So  rare  were  opportunities 
for  going  to  school  in  those  days,  that  lyincoln  never 
forgot  the  lessons  he  learned  of  Caleb  Hazel  and  the 
pleasure  that  he  felt  in  that  great  event  of  his  life — 
going  to  school. 

In  those  primitive  times,  preaching  was  usually  had 
under  the  trees  or  in  the  cabins  of  those  few  who  were 
so  fortunate  as  to  have  a  bigger  roof  than  most  of  their 
neighbors.  lyincoln  w^as  a  full-grown  lad,  when  he 
first  saw  a  church  ;  and  it  was  only  from  the  lips  of 
wandering  preachers  that  he  heard  the  words  of  Christ- 
ian warning  and  advice.  At  long  intervals,  Parson 
Elkin,  a  Baptist  preacher,  took  his  way  through  the 
region  in  which  the  lyincolns  lived,  and  young  Abra- 
ham, fascinated  by  hearing  long  discourses  fall  from  the 
lips  of  the  speaker,  apparently  without  any  preparation, 
never  failed  to  attend  on  his  simple  services.  The  boy 
got  his  first  notion  of  public  speaking  from  this  itin- 
erant preacher,  and,  years  afterwards,  he  referred  to 
the  preacher  as  the  most  wonderful  man  known  to  his 
boyish  experience. 

Thomas  Lincoln  wearied  of  his  Kentucky  home. 
There  was  great  trouble  in  getting  land  titles  ;  even 
Daniel  Boone,  the  pioneer  and  surveyor  of  the  land, 
upon  whom  had  been  conferred  a  great  grant,  was 
shorn  of  much  of  his  lawful  property,  and  a  cloud  was 
laid  on  nearly  every  man's  right  to  his  own  homestead. 
But  the  real  cause  of  his  hankering  after  a  new  home 
was  probably  that  he  saw  something  better  far  ahead. 
The  tales  of  wonderfully  rich  soil,  abundant  game,  fine 
timber,  and  rich  pasturage  that  came  to  Kentucky  from 
Indiana  were  just  like  the  rosy  reports  of  the  riches 
and  attractions  of  Kentucky  that  had  enticed  the  elder 
Lincolns  from  their  home  in  Virginia  years  before. 


6  Abraham  Lincoln 

So  Thomas  resolved  to  * '  pull  up  stakes ' '  and  move  on, 
still  to  the  westward. 

Thomas  found  a  newcomer  who  was  willing  to  take 
his  partly  improved  farm  and  log  cabin  for  ten  barrels 
of  whiskey  and  twenty  dollars  in  cash.  This  repre- 
sented three  hundred  dollars  in  value,  and  was  the 
price  that  he  had  set  upon  his  homestead.  Whiskey 
made  from  corn  was,  in  those  daj^s,  one  of  the  readiest 
forms  of  currency  in  the  trading  and  barter  continually 
going  on  among  the  settlers  ;  and,  even  where  drunken- 
ness was  almost  unknown,  the  fiery  spirit  was  regarded 
as  a  perfectl}^  legitimate  article  of  daily  use  and  a  sub- 
stitute for  money  in  trade. 

Thomas  Lincoln  built  a  flatboat,  w^hich  he  loaded 
with  his  ten  barrels  of  whiskey  and  the  heavier  articles 
of  household  furniture.  Then,  pushing  off  alone,  he 
floated  safely  down  to  the  Ohio.  Here  he  met  with  a 
great  disaster.  Caught  between  eddying  currents,  and 
entangled  in  the  snags  and  ' '  sawyers ' '  that  beset  the 
stream,  his  frail  craft  was  upset  and  much  of  his  stuff 
was  lost.  With  assistance,  he  righted  the  boat,  and, 
with  what  had  been  saved  from  the  wreck,  he  landed 
at  Thompson's  Ferry,  found  an  ox-cart  to  transport  his 
slender  stock  of  valuables  into  the  forest,  and  finally 
piled  them  in  an  oak-opening  in  Spencer  County, 
Indiana,  about  eighteen  miles  from  the  river. 

Left  at  home  in  their  dismantled  cabin,  w^ith  a 
scanty  suppl}^  of  provisions,  the  mother  and  little  ones 
made  the  most  of  their  time.  The  tw^o  children  attended 
Caleb  Hazel's  school,  but  Abraham  found  time  to  snare 
game  for  the  family  dinner-pot,  and,  in  an  emergency, 
the  house-mother  could  knock  over  a  deer  at  long 
range.  One  bed-ticking  filled  with  dried  forest  leaves 
and  husks  sufficed  for  their  rest  at  night,  and  bright 


The  Lincoln  Ancestry  7 

and  early  in  the  morning  the  future  President  was  out 
in  the  nipping  autumn  air,  chopping  wood  for  the 
day's  fire.  As  the  time  drew  near  for  the  father's  re- 
turn, Mrs.  Lincoln,  leading  her  living  boy,  paid  her 
last  visit  to  the  grave  of  the  little  one  whom  she  had 
lost  in  infancy.  And  his  sad  mother's  prayers  and 
tears  by  the  side  of  the  unmarked  mound  in  the  wilder- 
ness made  an  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  lad  that 
time  never  effaced. 

But  when  Thomas  Lincoln  returned  to  his  small 
brood,  it  was  not  with  any  boastfulness.  He  had  met 
with  what  was  to  them  a  great  loss.  Much  of  their 
meagre  stock  of  household  stuff  and  farming  tools  was 
at  the  bottom  of  the  Ohio  River.  Leaving  the  rescued 
fragments  in  care  of  a  friendl}^  settler,  he  had  made  a 
bee-line  for  the  old  Kentucky  home  ;  and  here  he  was, 
with  a  flattering  report  of  the  richness  of  the  land  to 
which  they  were  bound. 

It  was  a  long  journey  that  was  before  them.  Pro- 
curing two  horses  and  loading  them  with  the  household 
stuff  and  wardrobe  of  the  family,  Thomas  Lincoln, 
wife,  and  two  children  took  up  their  line  of  march  for 
the  new  home  in  Indiana.  At  night  they  slept  on  the 
fragrant  pine  twigs  ;  and  by  day  they  plodded  their 
way  toward  the  Ohio  River.  They  were  like  true 
soldiers  of  fortune,  subsisting  on  the  country  through 
which  they  marched.  Here  and  there,  it  was  needful 
to  clear  their  way  through  tangled  thickets,  and  now 
and  again  they  came  to  streams  that  must  be  forded 
or  swam.  By  all  sorts  of  expedients,  the  little  family 
contrived  to  get  on  from  day  to  day,  occupying  a  week 
in  this  transit  from  one  home  to  another.  The  nights 
were  cool  but  pleasant.  No  rain  fell  on  them  in  the 
way,  and  after  a  week  of  free  and  easy  life  in  the  woods, 


8  Abraham   Lincoln 

they  came  to  the  bank  of  the  river.  When  they  looked 
over  into  the  promised  land,  they  saw  nothing  but 
forest,  almost  trackless  forest,  stretching  far  up  and 
down  the  stream.  All  was  silent  save  for  the  ripplings 
of  the  water  and  the  occasional  note  of  some  wandering 
bird. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   BOYHOOD   OF   I,INCOI,N 

PICKING  up  their  property  left  in  charge  of  one  of 
the  scattered  settlers  by  Thomas  lyincoln  on  his 
first  visit,  the  family  pushed  on  into  the  wilderness, 
where  on  a  grassy  knoll  in  the  heart  of  the  untrodden 
forest,  they  fixed  upon  the  site  of  their  future  dwelling- 
place.  A  slight  hunter's  camp  was  all  that  could  be 
built  to  shelter  the  new  settlers  during  their  first  win- 
ter in  the  woods  of  southern  Indiana.  The  open  front 
of  this  '*  half-faced  camp  "  was  partially  screened  with 
*'  pelts,"  as  the  half-dressed  skins  of  wild  animals  were 
called.  A  fireplace  of  sticks  and  clay,  with  a  chimney 
of  the  same  materials,  occupied  one  corner  of  the  hut. 
Here  the  Lincolns  spent  their  first  winter  in  the  new 
State  of  Indiana. 

Abraham  was  now  in  his  eighth  year,  tall,  ungainly, 
fast-growing,  long-legged,  and  clad  in  the  garb  of  the 
frontier.  He  wore  a  shirt  of  linsey-woolsey,  a  fabric 
homespun  of  mixed  cotton  and  wool,  and  dyed  with 
colors  obtained  from  the  roots  and  barks  of  the  forest. 
According  to  his  own  statement,  he  never  wore  stock- 
ings until  he  was  "  a  young  man  grown."  His  feet 
were  covered  with  rough  cowhide  shoes,  but  oftener 
with  moccasins  fashioned  deftly  by  his  mother's  hands. 
Deerskin  breeches  and  a  hunting-shirt  of  the  same 

9 


lo  Abraham  Lincoln 

material  completed  his  outfit,  except  for  the  coon-skin 
cap  that  adorned  his  shaggy  head,  the  tail  of  the 
animal  hanging  down  behind,  at  once  an  ornament 
and  a  convenient  handle  when  occasion  required. 

But  the  lad  did  not  take  kindly  to  hunting.  Once, 
as  he  used  to  tell  of  himself,  while  yet  a  child,  he 
caught  a  glimpse  of  a  flock  of  wild  turkeys  feeding 
near  the  camp,  and,  venturously  taking  down  his 
father's  rifle  from  its  pegs  on  the  wall,  he  took  aim 
through  a  chink  in  the  cabin  and  killed  a  noble  bird. 
It  was  his  first  shot  at  a  living  thing,  and  he  never 
forgot  the  mingled  pain  and  pleasure  that  it  brought — 
pain  because  he  dreaded  to  take  life,  and  pleasure  be- 
cause he  had  brought  down  his  game. 

The  woods  swarmed  with  bears,  deer,  woodchucks, 
raccoon,  wild  turkeys,  and  other  creatures,  furry  or 
feathered,  useful  for  the  table  or  for  furnishing  forth 
the  scanty  wardrobe  of  the  settlers.  None  need  starve 
so  long  as  snares  and  ammunition  were  handy  for  the 
hunter  and  trapper.  But  it  was  a  hard  life,  hard  for 
children,  and  hardest  of  all  for  women.  No  neighbor 
dropped  in  for  a  few  minutes'  friendly  gossip,  with  the 
small  news  of  the  day.  Only  as  a  faint  echo  from  out 
another  world  came  the  news  of  domestic  politics, 
foreign  complications,  and  national  afiairs.  James 
Madison  was  President  of  the  United  States,  and  Con- 
gress and  the  country  were  stirred  greatly  over  the 
admission  of  Missouri,  the  extension  of  slavery  west- 
ward of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  other  matters  of 
great  moment  then  and  thereafter. 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1816  that  the  lyincolns  took 
up  their  abode  in  the  wilds  of  Indiana.  In  February 
of  the  following  year,  Thomas  Lincoln,  with  the  slight 
assistance  of  little  Abe,  felled  the  logs  needed  for  a 


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The  Boyhood  of  Lincoln  ii 

substantial  cabin.  These  were  cut  to  the  proper 
lengths,  notched  near  the  ends  so  as  to  fit  into  each 
other  when  laid  up  ;  and  then  the  neighbors  from  far 
and  near  were  summoned  to  the  "  raisin',"  which  was 
an  event  in  those  days  for  much  rude  jollity  and  cordial 
good-fellowship.  A  raising  was  an  occasion  for  merry- 
making as  well  as  for  hard  work  ;  and  these  opportuni- 
ties for  social  gatherings,  few  as  they  were,  were  enjoyed 
by  young  and  old.  The  helpful  settlers  *'  snaked  "  the 
logs  out  of  the  woods,  fitted  the  sills  in  their  places, 
rolled  the  other  logs  up  by  means  of  various  rude  con- 
trivances, and  before  nightfall  had  in  shape  the  four 
walls  of  the  log  cabin,  with  the  gables  fixed  in  position 
and  poles  fastened  on  with  wooden  pins  to  serve  as 
rafters,  and  even  some  progress  was  made  in  the  way 
of  covering  the  roof. 

The  floor  of  this  primitive  habitation  was  the  solid 
ground,  pounded  hard.  The  cracks  between  the  bark- 
covered  logs  were  "  chinked  "  with  thin  strips  of  wood 
split  from  the  plentiful  timber.  Similar  labor  ' '  rived  " 
or  split  the  '*  shakes  "  with  which  the  roof  was  covered, 
and  from  which  the  swinging  door  was  made.  Later 
on,  huge  slabs  of  wood  split  from  oak  and  hickory 
logs  and  known  as  "  puncheons"  were  laid  on  floor 
joists  of  logs  and  were  loosely  pinned  in  place  by  long 
wooden  pegs. 

In  one  corner  of  the  cabin,  two  of  its  sides  formed 
by  the  walls  thereof,  was  built  the  bedstead  of  the 
father  and  mother.  Only  one  leg  was  needed,  and  this 
was  driven  down  into  the  ground,  a  forked  top  giving 
a  chance  to  fit  in  the  cross-pieces  that  served  for  foot 
and  side  of  this  simple  bit  of  furniture.  From  these  to 
the  logs  at  the  side  and  head  of  the  bedstead  were  laid 
split   "  shakes,"    and   sometimes  thongs  of  deerskin 


12  Abraham  Lincoln 

were  laced  back  and  forth  after  the  fashion  of  bedcord- 
ing.  On  this  was  placed  the  mattress,  filled  with  dried 
leaves,  corn-husks,  or  whatever  came  handy.  The  chil- 
dren's bed,  a  smaller  contrivance,  was  sometimes  fixed 
in  another  corner  ;  but  when  the  wintry  wind  whistled 
around  the  cabin  and  the  dry  snow  sifted  through  the 
cracks,  the  little  ones  stole  over  to  the  parental  bed  for 
warmth. 

In  making  all  these  preparations  for  home-life  under 
their  own  roof,  little  Abe  took  an  active  part.  He 
early  learned  the  use  of  the  axe,  the  maul,  and  the 
wedge.  With  the  *'  froe,"  a  tool  something  like  a 
long  wedge  with  a  wooden  handle,  he  was  taught 
to  *'  rive  "  the  shingle  from  the  slab  ;  and  with  maul 
and  wedges — a  highly  prized  possession — he  mastered 
the  art  of  splitting  rails  and  billets  of  wood  for  building 
purposes.  In  labors  like  these,  the  lad  hardened  his 
sinews,  toughened  his  hands,  and  imbibed  a  knowledge 
of  woodcraft  and  the  practical  uses  of  every  variety  of 
timber.  He  knew  every  tree,  bush,  and  shrub  by  its 
foliage  and  bark,  as  far  as  he  could  see  it.  The  mys- 
terious juices  that  gave  healing  to  wounds  and  bruises, 
the  roots  that  held  medicinal  virtues  in  their  sap,  and 
the  uses  to  which  every  sort  of  woody  fibre  was  best 
adapted  were  all  familiar  to  him. 

It  was  impossible  that  a  boy  so  imaginative  and  full 
of  fancy,  as  young  Abe  certainly  was,  should  grow  up 
in  these  forests  and  shades  without  imbibing  some 
"  queer  notions  "  about  men  and  things.  Even  to  the 
most  practical  of  mankind,  there  is  an  awesome  solitude 
in  the  unexplored  forest  wilderness  ;  and  the  sighing 
of  winds,  the  roar  of  night-prowling  animals,  the  hol- 
low murmur  of  distant  streams,  and  the  indescribable 
hum  that  goes  up  continually  from  the  hidden  life  of 


The  Boyhood  of  Lincoln  13 

the  forest  live  ever  after  in  the  memory  of  those  who 
have  spent  much  of  their  childhood  in  scenes  like  these. 
The  brooding  lad  took  in  many  a  lesson  which  could 
not  be  expressed  in  words,  and  never  to  the  latest  day 
of  his  life  forgot  the  traditions  and  the  scenery  of  the 
wilderness,  never  lost  the  lesson  of  God's  greatness  and 
man's  insignificance. 

It  was  during  their  first  year  in  Indiana,  and  when 
Abraham  was  in  his  tenth  year,  that  a  mysterious  dis- 
ease called  "the  milk-sick"  appeared  in  the  region. 
Exactly  what  "  the  milk-sick  "  was  nobody  nowadays 
seems  to  know.  No  physician  acknowledges  any  such 
form  of  sickness  ;  but  there  are  traditions  of  it  yet 
extant  in  the  Western  States,  and  Mr.  lyincoln,  later 
in  life,  described  it  as  resembling  a  quick  consumption. 
Cattle  as  well  as  human  beings  were  destroyed  by  it, 
and  in  the  far-off  wilderness  it  was  not  then  uncommon 
to  find  an  entire  household  prostrated  with  the  disease, 
while  flocks  and  herds  were  dying  uncared  for.  It  was 
a  sad  and  gloomy  time  all  through  southern  Indiana 
and  Kentucky  when  '*  the  milk-sick  "  raged. 

In  the  preceding  autumn,  Mrs.  Betsy  Sparrow  and 
her  husband  and  her  little  nephew,  Dennis  Hanks,  had 
followed  the  Lincolns  into  Indiana  and  were  settled 
not  far  away  in  a  half-faced  camp.  Dennis  Hanks 
was  Abraham's  playmate  and  distant  cousin,  for  Mrs. 
Sparrow  was  Nancy  lyincoln's  aunt.  The  Sparrows, 
man  and  wife,  were  taken  down  with  ' '  the  milk-sick  ' ' 
and  were  removed  to  the  I^incoln  cabin  for  better  at- 
tendance. Soon  Abraham's  mother  was  also  stricken, 
and  poor  Thomas  Lincoln  had  his  hands  full. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sparrow  died  first,  and  were  buried  on 
a  little  knoll  in  the  forest  within  sight  of  the  cabin. 
On  the  5th  of  October,  a  few  days  later,  Nancy  lyincoln 


14  Abraham  Lincoln 

died  ;  and  she  too  was  buried  in  the  forest,  under  the 
shade  of  a  spreading  and  majestic  sycamore.  When 
the  wayworn  form  of  the  mother  was  lowered  into  the 
grave,  enclosed  in  the  rude  wood  shaped  by  the  hands 
of  Thomas  Lincoln,  little  Abraham  Lincoln,  sitting 
alone  until  the  shadows  grew  deep  and  dark  in  the 
forest  and  the  sound  of  night-birds  began  to  echo 
through  the  dim  aisles,  wept  his  first  bitter  tears. 
Long  after,  when  the  spot  where  she  was  buried  '  had 
been  covered  by  the  wreck  of  the  forest  and  almost 
hidden,  her  son  was  wont  to  say,  with  tear-dimmed 
eyes,  * '  All  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my  angel 
mother." 

It  was  the  custom  of  those  days  and  of  that  country 
to  have  a  funeral  sermon  preached  by  way  of  memorial, 
any  time  within  the  year  following  the  death  of  a  per- 
son. So,  as  soon  as  the  good  mother  was  buried, 
Abraham  Lincoln  wrote  what  he  used  to  say  was  his 
first  letter,  and  addressed  it  to  Parson  Elkin,  the  Ken- 
tucky Baptist  preacher  who  had  sometimes  tarried  with 
the  Lincolns  in  their  humble  home  in  Kentucky.  It 
was  a  great  favor  to  ask  of  the  good  man  ;  but  in  due 
time  Abraham  received  an  answer  to  his  letter,  and 
the  parson  promised  to  come  when  his  calls  of  duty  led 
him  near  the  Indiana  line. 

Early  in  the  following  summer,  when  the  trees  were 
greenest,  the  preacher  came  on  his  errand  of  kindness. 
It  was  a  bright  and  sunny  Sabbath  morning  when,  due 
notice  having  been  sent  through  all  the  region,  men, 

'  A  stone  has  been  placed  over  the  site  of  the  grave  by  Mr. 
P.  E.  Studebacker  of  South  Bend,  Indiana.  The  stone  bears 
the  following  inscription:  "  Nancy  Hanks  Lincoln,  died  Octo- 
ber 5th,  A.D.  1818,  aged  35  years.  Erected  by  a  friend  of  her 
martyred  son,  1879." 


The  Boyhood  of  Lincoln  15 

women,  and  children  gathered  from  far  and  near  to 
hear  the  funeral  sermon  of  Nancy  lyincoln.  There 
were  the  hardy  forest  rangers  ;  there  were  the  farmers 
and  their  families,  two  hundred  of  them,  all  told,  some 
on  foot  and  some  on  horseback  and  others  drawn  in  ox- 
carts. All  were  intent  on  the  great  event  of  the  season 
—  the  preaching  of  Nancy  Lincoln's  funeral  sermon. 

The  waiting  congregation  was  grouped  around  on 
* '  down  trees, ' '  stumps,  and  knots  of  bunch-grass,  or 
on  wagon-tongues,  waiting  for  the  coming  of  the  little 
procession.  The  preacher  led  the  way  from  the  lyin- 
coln  cabin,  followed  by  Thomas  lyincoln,  his  son  Abra- 
ham, his  daughter  Sarah,  and  little  Dennis  Hanks,  now 
a  member  of  the  Lincoln  household.  Tears  shone  on 
the  sun-browned  cheeks  of  the  silent  settlers  as  the 
good  preacher  told  of  the  virtues  and  the  patiently 
borne  sufferings  and  sorrows  of  the  departed  mother  of 
Abraham  Lincoln.  And  every  head  was  bowed  in 
reverential  solemnity  as  he  lifted  up  his  voice  in  prayer 
for  the  motherless  children  and  the  widowed  man.  To 
Abraham,  listening  as  he  did  to  the  last  words  that 
should  be  said  over  the  grave  of  his  mother,  this  was  a 
scene  never  to  be  forgotten. 

We  can  imagine  how  unkempt  and  ragged  the  three 
became,  left  almost  wholly  to  themselves.  Sarah, 
scarcely  twelve  years  old,  was  the  housekeeper.  Abe, 
two  years  younger,  came  next,  and  Dennis  Hanks  was 
eighteen  months  younger  than  he.  The  father  had  a 
cheerful  temper,  and  he  hoped  that  the  good  Lord 
would  send  them  help,  somehow  and  some  day,  but 
how  and  when,  he  never  stopped  to  think.  But  he 
knew  better  than  Sarah  did  how  to  mix  an  ash-cake 
of  corn-meal.  So,  with  milk  from  the  cow  and  an  oc- 
casional slab  of  *  *  side-meat, ' '  or  smoked  side  of  pork, 


1 6  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  family  was  never  long  hungry.  It  was  hard  fare  ; 
but  a  boy  nourished  himself  on  that  and  lived  to  be 
President. 

Boys  of  the  present  age,  turning  over  languidly  the 
piles  of  books  at  their  command,  beautiful,  entertaining, 
instructive,  and  fascinating,  gay  with  binding  and 
pictures,  would  stand  aghast  at  the  slimness  of  the 
stock  that  made  Abraham  lyincoln's  heart  glad.  The 
first  books  he  read  were  the  Bible,  ^sop's  Fables,  and 
The  Pilgrim'' s  Progress.  He  thought  himself  the  most 
fortunate  boy  in  the  country,  and  such  good  use  did  he 
make  of  these  standard  works  that  he  could  repeat  from 
memory  whole  chapters  of  the  Bible,  many  of  the  most 
striking  passages  of  Bunyan's  immortal  book,  and  every 
one  of  the  fables  of  ^sop. 

He  early  took  to  the  study  of  the  lives  and  characters 
of  eminent  men,  and  a  life  of  Henry  Clay  which  his 
mother  had  managed  to  buy  for  him  was  one  of  his 
choicest  treasures.  Hearing  of  a  Life  of  Washingto7i, 
written  by  Weems,  young  Lincoln  went  in  pursuit  of 
it,  and  joyfully  carried  it  home  in  the  bosom  of  his 
hunting-shirt.  Reading  this  by  the  light  of  a  "  tallow- 
dip  "  until  the  feeble  thing  had  burned  down  to  its 
end,  Abraham  tucked  the  precious  volume  into  a  chink 
in  the  log  wall  of  the  cabin  and  went  to  sleep.  A  driv- 
ing storm  in  the  night  had  soaked  the  book  through 
and  through  and  ruined  it,  when  the  eager  boy  sought 
for  it  in  the  early  morning  light.  It  was  a  borrowed 
book,  and  honest  Abe  was  in  despair  over  its  destruc- 
tion in  his  hands.  With  a  heavy  heart  he  took  it 
back  to  its  owner,  offering  to  do  any  thing  that  Mr. 
Crawford  thought  fair  and  just.  A  settlement  was 
made,  young  Abe  covenanting  to  pull  **  fodder"  for 
three  days,  by  way  of  settlement. 


The  Boyhood  of  Lincoln  17 

"  And  does  that  pay  for  the  book,  or  for  the  damage 
done  to  it  ?  "  asked  the  shrewd  boy,  taking  his  first 
lessons  in  worldly  wisdom. 

"  Wal,  I  allow,"  said  the  kindly  owner  of  the  pre- 
cious book,  **  that  it  won't  be  much  account  to  me  or 
anybody  else  now,  and  the  bargain  is  that  you  pull 
fodder  three  days,  and  the  book  is  yours." 

This  was  the  first  book  that  Abraham  Lincoln  earned 
and  paid  for  ;  discolored  and  blistered  though  it  was,  it 
was  to  him  of  value  incalculable.  And  wheresoever 
the  story  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  life  shall  be  told,  this 
account  of  his  first  precious  possession  shall  be  also 
narrated  for  a  memorial  of  him. 

Years  after,  standing  near  the  battle-ground  of 
Trenton,  and  recalling  the  pages  of  the  book  hidden 
in  the  crevices  of  the  log  cabin  in  the  Indiana  wilder- 
ness, he  said:  *'  I  remember  all  the  accounts  there 
given  of  the  battle-fields  and  the  struggles  for  the  lib- 
erties of  the  country,  and  none  fixed  themselves  so 
deeply  as  the  struggle  here  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  I 
recollect  thinking  then,  boy  even  though  I  was,  that 
there  must  have  been  something  more  than  common 
that  those  men  struggled  for. ' ' 

It  is  an  odd  fact  that  may  as  well  be  recorded  here, 
that  Lincoln,  as  boy  and  man,  almost  invariably  read 
aloud.  When  he  studied,  it  helped  him,  he  said,  to  fix 
in  his  mind  the  matter  in  hand,  if,  while  it  passed  be- 
fore his  eyes,  he  heard  his  own  voice  repeating  it. 


CHAPTER   III 


YOUNG   MANHOOD 


IN  the  autumn  of  1819,  Thomas  Lincoln  went  off 
somewhere  into  Kentucky,  leaving  the  children  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  What  he  went  for,  and  where 
he  went,  the  youngsters  never  thought  of  asking.  But 
in  December,  earl}^  one  morning,  they  heard  a  loud 
halloo  from  the  edge  of  the  forest  ;  and,  dashing  to  the 
door,  they  beheld  the  amazing  sight  of  the  returning 
traveller  perched  in  a  four-horse  wagon,  a  pretty-look- 
ing woman  by  his  side,  and  a  stranger  driving  the 
spanking  team.  Was  it  a  miracle  ?  Thomas  had  re- 
turned with  a  stepmother  for  his  little  ones.  He  had 
married,  in  Klizabethtown,  Kentucky,  Mrs.  Sally 
Johnston,  formerly  Miss  Sally  Bush.  She  had  been 
known  to  the  lad  in  Kentucky  ;  and  now  that  she  had 
come  to  be  the  new  mother  to  Abe  and  his  sister,  they 
were  glad  to  see  her. 

The  gallant  four-horse  team  was  the  property  of 
Ralph  Krume,  who  had  married  Sally  Johnston's  sister; 
and  in  the  wagon  was  stored  what  seemed  to  these 
children  of  the  wilderness  a  gorgeous  array  of  house- 
keeping things.  There  were  tables  and  chairs,  a  bureau 
with  real  drawers  that  pulled  out  and  disclosed  a  stock 
of  clothing,  crockery,  bedding,  knives  and  forks,  and 
numerous  things  that  to  people  nowadays  are  thought 

18 


Young  Manhood  19 

to  be  among  the  necessaries  of  life.  By  what  magic 
Thomas  Lincoln  had  persuaded  this  thrifty  and  **  fore- 
handed ' '  widow  to  leave  her  home  in  Kentucky  and 
migrate  to  the  comfortless  wilderness  of  Indiana,  we 
can  only  guess.  But  Thomas  was  of  a  genial  and  even 
jovial  disposition,  and  he  had  allured  the  good  woman 
to  come  and  save  his  motherless  bairns  from  utter 
destitution  and  neglect. 

The  new  Mrs.  Lincoln,  if  she  was  disappointed  in 
the  home  she  found  in  Indiana,  never  showed  her  dis- 
appointment to  her  stepchildren.  She  took  hold  of  the 
duties  and  labors  of  the  day  with  a  cheerful  readiness 
that  was  long  and  gratefully  remembered  by  her  step- 
son, at  least.  They  were  good  friends  at  once.  Of 
him  she  said,  years  after,  ' '  He  never  gave  me  a  cross 
word  or  look,  and  never  refused,  in  fact  or  appearance, 
to  do  anything  I  requested  of  him."  Of  her  he  said, 
'*  She  was  a  noble  woman,  affectionate,  good,  and 
kind,  rather  above  the  average  woman,  as  I  remember 
women  in  those  days." 

Mrs.  Lincoln  brought  with  her  three  children  by  her 
first  marriage,  John,  Sarah,  and  Matilda  Johnston, 
whose  ages  were  not  far  from  those  of  the  three  chil- 
dren found  in  the  Lincoln  homestead.  The  log  cabin 
was  full  to  overflowing.  The  three  boys,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  John  Johnston,  and  Dennis  Hanks,  were  sent 
to  the  loft  over  the  cabin  to  sleep.  They  climbed  up  a 
rude  ladder  built  against  the  inner  side  of  the  log 
house  ;  and  their  bed,  a  mere  sack  of  dry  corn-husks, 
was  so  narrow  that  when  one  turned  over  all  three 
turned.  Nevertheless,  there  was  an  abundance  of 
covering  for  the  children. 

The  new  mother  had  at  once  insisted  that  the  open- 
ings in  the  cabin  should  be  filled  with  glass  and  sashes 


20  Abraham  Lincoln 

instead  of  loosely  hung  sheets  of  muslin.  The  rickety 
frame  that  had  served  as  a  door,  with  its  clumsy  wooden 
hasp,  was  taken  away,  and  * '  a  battened  door ' '  of 
matched  boards,  with  a  wooden  latch  of  domestic  make, 
replaced  it.  Mats  of  deerskin  were  put  down  on  the 
puncheon  floor,  and  an  aspect  of  comfort,  even  luxury, 
was  spread  around.  It  seems  to  have  been  an  har- 
monious household.  If  there  were  any  family  jars, 
history  makes  no  mention  of  them.  And  we  must  re- 
member that  that  history  has  come  down  to  us  in  the 
reports  of  two  of  those  who  were  most  interested  in  the 
household,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  stepmother. 

About  this  time,  young  Abe  made  the  acquaintance 
of  a  new  source  of  pleasure,  James  Fenimore  Cooper's 
"  Leather-Stocking  Tales."  Over  these  he  hung  with 
rapturous  delight.  He  had  seen  something  of  the  fast- 
receding  Indian  of  the  American  forests  ;  and  he  had 
heard,  many  a  time,  of  his  father's  thrilling  escape 
from  the  red  man's  clutches,  and  of  his  grandfather's 
cruel  death  in  the  Kentucky  ' '  clearing  ' ' ;  and  when 
he  withdrew  his  fascinated  attention  from  the  vivid 
pages  of  Cooper's  novels,  he  almost  expected  to  see  the 
painted  savages  lurking  in  the  outskirts  of  the  forest  so 
near  at  hand.  Another  book,  borrowed  from  one  of 
the  few  and  distant  neighbors,  was  Burns's  Poems,  a 
thick  and  chunky  volume,  as  he  afterwards  described 
it,  bound  in  leather  and  printed  in  very  small  type. 
This  book  he  kept  long  enough  to  commit  to  memory 
almost  all  its  contents.  And  ever  after,  to  the  day  of 
his  death,  some  of  the  familiar  lines  of  the  Scottish 
poet  were  as  ready  on  his  lips  as  those  of  Shakespeare, 
the  only  poet  who  was,  in  Lincoln's  opinion,  greater 
than  Robert  Burns. 

His  stepmother  said  of  him  :  ' '  He  read  everything 


u 
9 

CO 
UJ 

oc 
II. 

Ill 

I 

H 

>- 

> 

o 

3 
<0 


Young  Manhood  21 

he  could  lay  his  hands  on,  and  when  he  came  across  a 
passage  that  struck  him,  he  would  write  it  down  on 
boards,  if  he  had  no  paper,  and  keep  it  by  him  until  he 
could  get  paper.  Then  he  would  copy  it,  look  at  it, 
commit  it  to  memory,  and  repeat  it."  Thus  from 
books  that  he  did  not  own  and  could  not  keep,  he 
collected  a  great  many  things  of  the  utmost  value  to 
him. 

But  although  young  I^incoln  devoured  books  with  a 
hunger  that  was  almost  pathetic,  and  sorely  tried  his 
eyes  with  study  by  the  light  of  blazing  pine-knots  on 
the  hearth,  he  was  no  milksop,  no  weakly  bookworm. 
He  had  learned  the  use  of  tools  ;  he  could  swing  the 
maul,  and  could  chip  out  "  shakes  "  and  shingles,  lay 
open  rails,  and  handle  logs  as  well  as  most  men.  Al- 
though not  a  quarrelsome  boy,  he  could  throw  any  of 
his  weight  and  years  in  the  neighborhood  ;  and  far 
and  near  *'  Abe  Lincoln  "  was  early  known  as  a  capi- 
tal wrestler  and  a  tough  champion  at  every  game  of 
muscular  skill. 

School  and  its  coveted  facilities  for  getting  knowledge 
was  now  within  reach.  Hazel  Dorsey  was  the  name  of 
the  new  schoolmaster  on  Little  Pigeon  Creek,  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  the  Lincoln  homestead  ;  and  thither 
was  sent  the  brood  of  young  ones  belonging  to  the  Lin- 
coln family.  These  backwoods  children  had  the  un- 
usual luxury  of  going  all  together  to  a  genuine  school. 
True  the  schoolhouse  was  built  of  logs  ;  but  all  the 
youngsters  of  the  school  came  from  log  cabins  ;  and 
even  the  new  meeting-house,  which  was  an  imposing 
affair  for  those  woods,  was  log-built  up  to  the  gables, 
and  thence  finished  out  with  the  first  sawn  lumber  ever 
used  to  any  considerable  extent  in  the  region. 

Young  Abraham  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities, 


2  2  Abraham  Lincoln 

and  when  he  found  the  daj^s  too  short  for  his  school 
studies  and  his  tasks  about  the  farm,  he  sat  up  by  the 
fire  of  "  lightwood  "  late  into  the  night.  Following 
the  plough,  or  whirling  the  might}^  maul,  he  pondered 
deeply  the  lessons  that  he  had  learned  at  school  and 
from  the  few  books  at  his  command.  As  his  mental 
vision  widened,  there  was  nothing  so  far  out  of  the 
knowledge  of  those  about  him  that  he  could  not  take 
it  up.  Algebra,  Euclid,  Latin,  came  later  on  in  life  ; 
but  even  in  his  early  youth,  hearing  of  these,  he  re- 
solved to  master  them  as  soon  as  he  could  get  the 
needed  books. 

Through  all  the  wide  neighborhood,  Abe  Lincoln 
was  known  as  an  honest,  laborious,  and  helpful  lad. 
Coming  home  one  night,  when  the  early  winter  frosts 
were  sharp  and  nipping,  he  and  a  comrade  found  by 
the  roadside  the  horse  of  one  of  the  settlers  who  was  a 
notorious  drunkard.  There  had  been  a  house-raising 
in  the  vicinity,  and  the  rider,  overcome  with  the  strong 
drink  too  common  on  those  semi-festive  occasions,  had 
probably  fallen  off  and  been  left  by  his  steed,  while 
passing  through  the  woods.  Young  Lincoln  was  for 
hunting  up  the  missing  man.  "  Oh,  come  along 
home,"  said  his  companion  ;  '*  what  business  is  it  of 
yours  if  he  does  get  lost  ?  ' ' 

''  But  he  will  freeze  to  death,  if  he  is  left  on  the  trail 
this  cold  night." 

The  kind-hearted  young  fellow  found  the  man  and 
took  him,  all  unconscious  as  he  was,  on  his  own  stal- 
wart back,  and  actually  carried  him  eighty  rods  to  the 
nearest  house,  where,  after  sending  word  to  his  father 
that  he  must  stay  out  all  night,  he  sat  by  the  half-frozeu 
man  and  brought  him  back  to  consciousness. 

Before  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  he  attended  court 


Young  Manhood  23 

in  Boonville,  the  county-seat  of  Warrick,  where  a  man 
was  on  trial  for  murder.  It  was  his  first  look  into  what 
seemed  to  him  the  great  world  outside  the  wilderness. 
An  accident  led  him  into  the  vicinity,  and,  hearing 
that  one  of  the  famous  Breckinridges  of  Kentucky  was 
to  speak  for  the  defence,  he  went  on  to  Boonville,  and, 
open-mouthed  with  wonder,  heard  the  first  great  speech 
of  his  life.  When  the  arguments  were  over  and  the 
case  had  gone  to  the  jury,  the  youth,  his  face  shining 
with  honest  enthusiasm,  held  out  his  brown  hand  to 
the  well-dressed  lawyer,  and  told  him  how  much  he 
had  enjoyed  his  wonderful  speech.  The  aristocratic 
Breckinridge  stared  with  surprise  at  the  intrusive 
stranger,  and  haughtily  brushed  by  him.  This  was 
not  the  boy's  first  lesson  in  social  distinctions,  but  it 
was  his  first  lesson  in  oratory  ;  and  he  was  just  as 
grateful  to  Breckinridge  as  he  would  have  been  if  the 
great  man  had  been  as  gracious  then  as  he  was  years 
after,  when  he  was  reminded  by  the  President,  in 
Washington,  of  an  incident  in  Boonville  which  Breckin- 
ridge had  forgotten  but  Lincoln  could  not  forget. 

From  that  time,  young  Lincoln  practised  speech- 
making.  He  took  up  any  topic  that  happened  to  be 
uppermost  in  the  rural  neighborhood  —  a  question  of 
roads  or  trails,  the  school-tax,  a  bounty  on  wolves  or 
bears  ;  or  he  got  up  mock  trials,  arraigned  imaginary 
culprits,  and  himself  acted  as  prosecuting  attorney, 
counsel  for  the  defendant,  judge,  and  foreman  of  the 
jury,  making  their  appropriate  addresses  in  due  course. 
He  threw  himself  into  these  debates  with  so  much 
ardor  that  his  father  was  obliged  to  interfere  and  for- 
bid the  speeches  during  hours  for  work.  The  old  man 
grumbled,  "  When  Abe  begins  to  speak,  all  hands 
flock  to  hear  him." 


24  Abraham  Lincoln 

One  notable  thing  about  this  young  man  was  that 
when  he  began  to  study  an5^thing,  he  was  not  satisfied 
until  he  had  got  to  the  bottom  of  it.  He  went  to  the 
roots  of  things.  He  wrote  and  re-wrote  all  that  he 
wanted  to  commit  to  memory.  He  could  not  give  up 
any  difficult  problem.  He  kept  at  it  until  he  had  mas- 
tered it  ;  and  in  a  community  that  was  pretty  dark  in 
all  matters  of  book-learning  he  seldom  had  any  help 
outside  of  his  book.  He  found  time,  now  and  again, 
of  an  evening,  to  lounge  with  the  other  5^oung  fellows 
in  the  country  store  at  the  cross-roads,  and,  beardless 
youngster  though  he  was,  he  delighted  the  rude  back- 
woodsmen and  settlers  with  his  homely  wit  and  wisdom. 
In  that  benighted  region  he  was  accounted  as  being 
deeply  learned.  Great  things  were  prophesied  of  the 
lad. 

Never  neglecting  any  task  on  the  farm,  never  shirk- 
ing any  duty  however  unwelcome,  j^oung  Lincoln 
studied  almost  incessantly.  Dennis  Hanks  said  of 
him,  "  He  was  always  reading,  writing,  cyphering, 
and  writing  poetry."  There  is  in  existence  a  manu- 
script book  of  his,  under  the  title  of  '*Book  of  Examples 
in  Arithmetic."  One  of  the  pages,  dated  March  i, 
1826,  is  headed  "  Discount,"  and  is  divided  as  follows  : 
'*  A  Definition  of  Discount,"  *'  Rules  for  its  Computa- 
tion," and  "  Proofs  and  Various  Examples,"  all  worked 
out  in  neat  and  correct  figures.  Following  this  is 
*'  Interest  on  Money."  And  all  this  was  carefully 
kept  for  ready  reference  by  the  boy  who  was  busily 
studying  how  to  master  every  thing  he  attempted. 
Abraham  Lincoln  learned  to  be  thorough  when  he  was 
building  his  character. 

It  was  about  this  time,  when  he  was  eighteen  years 
old,  that  he  conceived  the  mighty  plan  of  building  a 


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26  Abraham  Lincoln 

boat  and  taking  down  the  river  to  the  nearest  trading- 
post  some  of  the  products  of  the  home  farm.  He  had 
had  furtive  glimpses  of  the  busy  life  outside  the  woods 
of  southern  Indiana,  and  he  longed  for  a  closer  look 
at  it.  The  little  craft  was  built,  chiefly  by  his  own 
hands,  and  was  loaded  with  bacon,  "  garden  truck," 
and  such  odds  and  ends  as  were  thought  available  for 
market. 

Of  this  short  voyage  into  the  world  of  busy  men, 
the  chief  incident  was  the  following.  Loitering  on  the 
river  bank,  after  he  had  sold  his  little  cargo,  Lincoln 
saw  what  was  to  him  then  an  unusual  sight,  a  steam- 
boat coming  down  the  river.  At  the  same  time  two 
men  came  to  the  river's  edge,  seeking  a  boat  to  take 
them  to  the  approaching  steamer.  In  answer  to  their 
call,  he  sculled  the  two  passengers  to  the  boat,  and, 
when  he  had  put  them  on  board  with  their  luggage, 
what  was  his  astonishment  to  find  in  his  hand,  as  his 
fee,  two  silver  half-dollars  ! 

"  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes,"  he  said,  when 
telling  this  adventure,  years  afterward,  to  Secretary 
Seward.  '*  You  may  think  it  a  very  little  thing  ;  but 
it  was  the  most  important  incident  in  my  life.  I,  a 
poor  boy,  had  earned  a  dollar  in  less  than  a  day.  The 
world  seemed  wider  and  fairer  before  me.  I  was  a 
more  hopeful  and  confident  being  from  that  time." 

It  was  one  year  later,  when  Lincoln  was  nineteen 
years  old,  that  he  made  his  second  voyage.  Mr. 
Gentry,  the  owner  of  the  neighborhood  store,  looked 
about  him  for  a  trustw^orthy  man  to  take  a  flat- 
boat  with  a  cargo  of  produce  to  New  Orleans.  Abra- 
ham had  not  been  much  away  from  home,  had  no 
familiarity  with  business  or  with  river  navigation,  and 
had  never  even  seen  the  Lower  Mississippi.     But  the 


Young  Manhood  27 

trader  knew  his  man,  and  made  an  offer  to  Lincoln, 
placing  him  in  full  charge  of  the  venture.  Lincoln 
accepted.  His  good  fortune  seemed  wonderful.  And 
when  he  and  his  companion,  young  Allen  Gentry,  cut 
loose  from  Gentry ville  and  slowly  drifted  down  Pigeon 
Creek  into  the  Ohio,  on  a  voyage  of  eighteen  hundred 
miles,  not  Columbus  sailing  forth  into  unknown  seas, 
nor  the  master  of  the  first  steamship  that  ploughed  the 
Atlantic,  could  have  been  more  impressed  with  the 
mightiness  of  the  prospect  before  him  than  the  back- 
woods boy  on  his  first  expedition  from  the  forests  of 
southern  Indiana. 

As  they  descended  the  mighty  Father  of  Waters, 
then  flowing  unvexed  to  the  sea,  plantations  began  to 
dot  the  landscape.  Here  and  there  friendly  or  inquisi- 
tive settlers  came  down  to  the  bank  to  ask  them  about 
their  "  load."  Or,  when  they  made  fast  to  the  most 
convenient  tree  at  nightfall,  a  far-wandering  hunter 
came  to  share  * '  pot-luck  ' '  and  the  gossip  of  the  region 
with  the  youthful  adventurers.  In  this  way  they 
picked  up  a  store  of  information,  useful  and  otherwise, 
and  many  a  queer  tale  of  frontier  life. 

Tied  up  to  a  bank  one  night,  as  was  their  custom,  the 
twain  slept  soundly  after  their  day  of  toil,  when  they 
were  waked  by  a  scrambling  near  at  hand.  Springing 
to  his  feet,  Abraham  shouted,  **  Who  's  there?" 
There  was  no  reply,  and,  seizing  a  handspike,  he  made 
ready  for  an  attack.  Seven  negroes,  evidently  on  an 
errand  of  plunder,  now  appeared.  Abe  held  himself 
ready  to  "  repel  boarders,"  and  the  first  man  that 
jumped  on  board  was  received  with  a  heavy  blow  that 
knocked  him  into  the  water.  A  second,  a  third,  and 
a  fourth,  essaying  the  same  thing,  were  similarly  re- 
ceived.    The  other  three,  seeing  they  were  no  match 


28  Abraham  Lincoln 

for  the  tall  backwoodsman  and  his  ally,  took  to  their 
heels,  pursued  by  Abe  and  Allen.  When  they  over- 
took the  negroes,  a  hand-to-hand  fight  ensued  ;  but 
the  thieves  finally  fled  again,  leaving  on  the  future 
President  a  scar  that  he  carried  to  his  grave. 

The  cargo  was  sold  to  good  advantage  before  reach- 
ing New  Orleans.  Then,  the  empty  boat  being  disposed 
of,  for  it  would  not  pay  to  take  it  home  up-stream,  the 
two  adventurers,  elated  with  their  first  notable  success, 
made  their  way  homeward  by  steamboat.  They  had 
seen  a  bit  of  the  great  world.  And  Abraham  Lincoln 
had  seen  what  he  never  forgot,  his  first  close  view  of 
human  slavery  ;  slav^es  toiling  on  the  plantations, 
slaves  bending  beneath  their  tasks  on  the  levees  of  the 
river  towns,  and,  what  was  more  memorable  than  all, 
slaves  in  squads  and  cofiles,  torn  from  old  homes  and 
families  far  away,  bound  up  the  river  on  the  steam- 
boats that  were  now  frequent  on  the  busy  Mississippi. 
He  who  v/as  to  be  known  through  all  coming  time  as 
The  Emancipator  had  made  his  first  study  of  his 
fellow-man  in  hopeless  bondage. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  up  to  this  point,  was  what  is 
called  a  self-made  man  in  the  strictest  sense  of  that 
word.  What  he  had  learned,  he  had  learned  of  him- 
self. What  he  knew,  he  knew  with  absolute  accuracy. 
Self-taught  and  self-dependent,  he  had  all  his  resources, 
mental,  moral,  and  physical,  well  in  hand.  So  self- 
reliant  and  yet,  withal,  so  modest  and  diffident  a  char- 
acter was  probably  never  known  before.  Growing  up 
in  the  almost  trackless  forest,  he  had  absorbed  the  in- 
fluences of  the  wild-wood.  He  had  been  held  close  to 
nature,  had  had  as  much  time  for  solitary  meditation 
as  was  wholesome  for  him  ;  and  he  had  never  been 
for  an  hour  dependent  on  other  people,  or  on   other 


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Young  Manhood  29 

than  the  humblest  means,  for  intellectual  stimulus. 
Such  as  he  was,  it  may  be  said,  God  had  made  him. 
The  man  that  was  within  him  was  thoroughly 
original. 

Henceforth  he  was  not  to  be  hidden  in  the  back- 
woods. The  stalwart  young  pioneer,  now  six  feet  four 
inches  tall,  could  outrun  and  outwalk  any  one  of  his 
comrades,  and,  as  has  been  said  by  those  who  knew 
him  then,  *'  he  could  strike  the  hardest  blow  with  axe 
or  maul,  jump  higher  and  farther  than  any  of  his  fel- 
lows, and  there  was  no  one,  far  or  near,  that  could  lay 
him  on  his  back."  These  accomplishments  counted 
for  much  in  a  community  where  physical  endurance 
and  muscular  strength  were  needed  for  every  day's 
duties.  But  the  kindly  youth,  strong  though  he  was, 
had  a  gentle  manner  that  endeared  him  to  everybody 
that  came  in  contact  with  him.  He  had  a  wonderful 
power  of  narration.  He  kept  his  audiences  at  the 
country  store  until  midnight,  says  one  of  his  comrades, 
listening  to  his  shrewd  wisdom,  native  wit,  and  vivid 

recitals. 

Unconsciousl}^  to  himself,   this  simple-hearted   and 

humble-minded  j^oung  man  was  absorbing  into  his  own 

experience  the  rude  lore  of  the  backwoodsman.     He 

was  studying  character,  filling  his  mind  with  facts  and 

experiences  ;  and,  in  after  years,  in  other  scenes  and 

in  a  far  busier  life  than  this,  the  fresh  and  original 

pictures  that  he  sketched  in  speech  or  story,  came  from 

the  panorama  of  human  action  unrolled  before  him  in 

old  Kentucky  and  southern  Indiana. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THK   LINCOLNS   IN   II^IvINOIS 

ONCE  more  the  Lincoln  family  * '  pulled  up  stakes  ' ' 
and  moved  westward.  This  time  it  was  to  Illi- 
nois, which,  in  the  Indian  vernacular,  signifies  "  the 
land  of  the  full-grown  men."  Thomas  Hanks,  one  of 
the  most  steady  and  well-balanced  of  this  somewhat 
wandering  group  of  people,  had  gone  to  Macon  County, 
Illinois,  in  the  autumn  of  1829.  He  had  been  so  favor- 
ably impressed  with  what  he  saw  and  heard  that  he 
had  written  to  Thomas  Lincoln  to  come  on  and  bring 
the  family.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  required  much 
persuasion  ever  to  induce  Thomas  Lincoln  to  change 
his  place.  He  had  made  no  progress  in  Indiana  be- 
yond providing  for  their  actual  wants.  He  could  do 
no  worse  in  Illinois,  accounts  of  which  as  a  land  liter- 
ally flowing  with  milk  and  honey  were  already  spread- 
ing over  the  older  States.  So,  in  the  spring  of  1830, 
as  soon  as  the  frost  was  out  of  the  ground,  Lincoln, 
having  sold  crops,  hogs,  and  farm  improvements  to 
Mr.  Gentry,  packed  all  his  remaining  earthly  posses- 
sions into  a  wagon  and  set  his  face  westward. 

Two  weeks  of  tiresome  travel  were  consumed  in 
reaching  the  place  selected  for  them  on  the  public  lands 
near  the  village  of  Decatur,  Macon  County.  The  entire 
* '  outfit, ' '  consisting  of  one  wagon  drawn  by  four  yoke 

30 


The  Lincolns  In  Illinois  31 

of  oxen,  driven  by  Abraham  I^incolu,  came  to  anchor 
as  it  were,  on  a  patch  of  bottom-land  hitherto  un- 
touched by  the  hand  of  man.  Young  I^incoln  lent  a 
hand  in  raising  the  cabin  that  was  to  be  the  home  of 
the  family.  And  when  this  work  was  done  and  the 
immigrants  were  securely  under  cover,  he  and  Thomas 
Hanks  ploughed  fifteen  acres  of  virgin  soil,  cut  down 
and  split  into  rails  sundry  walnut  logs  of  the  adjacent 
forest,  worked  out  rails,  and  fenced  his  father's  first 
Illinois  farm. 

Now  it  was  time  for  young  Abraham  to  strike  out 
for  himself.  He  had  thought  of  doing  that  before,  but 
had  been  reminded  that  he  was  a  servant  to  his  father 
until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old.  He  was  now  in 
his  twenty-second  year,  able  and  anxious  to  make  his 
own  living.  During  the  summer  of  1830,  he  worked 
at  odd  jobs  in  the  neighborhood,  alw^ays  alert  and 
cheerful,  ready  to  turn  his  hand  to  any  honest  bit  of 
work,  and  soon  growing  in  favor  with  the  rude  and 
simple  pioneers. 

"  The  winter  of  the  deep  snow  "  was  that  of  1830-1, 
unto  this  day  a  memorable  period  of  time  in  central 
Illinois.  The  snowfall  began  on  Christmas  day.  It 
continued  until  the  snow  was  three  feet  deep  on  a  level. 
Then  came  a  drizzling  rain  that  froze  as  it  fell,  the 
thermometer  sinking  to  twelve  degrees  below  zero. 
The  intense  cold  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  about 
made  that  winter  famous  forever  after  in  the  annals  of 
the  country.  Herds  of  deer  were  easily  caught  and 
killed,  imprisoned  as  they  were  in  the  icy  crust  that 
broke  beneath  their  sharp  feet.  Game  of  all  kinds  was 
slaughtered  by  the  hungry  settlers,  as  they  came  out 
of  their  scattered  villages  in  search  of  food,  and  from 
that  day  large  game  never  again  was  so  plenty  in  the 


32  Abraham   Lincoln 

State.  Roads  were  finally  broken  from  cabin  to  cabin 
and  from  hamlet  to  hamlet  by  "  wallowing,"  the  entire 
population,  men,  women,  children,  dogs,  oxen,  and 
horses,  turning  out  and  trampling  down  and  kicking 
out  the  snow.  Long  after  ploughing  had  begun,  next 
spring,  the  muddy-white  foundations  of  these  rural 
roads  remained,  unmelted,  to  stretch  across  the  black 
soil  of  the  prairies. 

During  the  winter  of  the  deep  snow,  3^oung  Lincoln 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Denton  Offutt,  a  small  trader 
of  the  region.  Hearing  that  Lincoln  and  Hanks  were 
'*  likely  young  fellows, ' '  Ofi"utt  proposed  that  they 
take  a  boat-load  of  provisions  to  New  Orleans  for 
him.  The  boys  were  right  glad  to  take  such  an  ofier, 
especially  as  Offutt  agreed  to  "  find  "  them  —  that  is 
to  sa3%  to  furnish  their  food  —  and  to  pay  them  fifty 
cents  a  day,  and,  if  the  venture  were  successful,  to 
give  them  a  farther  reward  of  twenty  dollars  each. 
This  was  great  prospective  riches  to  the  3^oungsters, 
neither  of  whom  had  ever  had  so  much  money  at  one 
time.  John  Johnston,  Abraham's  foster-brother,  was 
added  to  the  crew,  and,  having  built  their  flatboat,  the 
party,  Offutt,  Abraham  Lincoln,  John  Hanks,  and  John 
Johnston,  embarked  on  the  roaring  Sangamon  at 
Springfield. 

Although  the  river  was  booming  with  the  spring 
freshets,  the  frail  craft,  not  far  below  the  point  of  de- 
parture, stuck  on  a  mill-dam,  and  there  it  stuck  and 
hung.  The  population  of  New  Salem  came  down  to 
the  river's  margin,  commented  on  the  disaster,  chaffed 
and  hectored  the  shipwrecked  mariners,  and  generally 
made  merry  over  the  affair,  to  the  annoyance  of  the 
owner.  But  '  *  the  bow  oar ' '  rolled  up  his  trousers, 
waded  into  the  stream,  unloaded  the  barge,  whose  nose 


The  LIncolns  in  Illinois  33 

was  well  out  of  water  while  her  stern  was  well  under 
it,  bored  holes  to  let  out  the  flood,  and  rigged  up  a 
contrivance  to  hoist  the  boat  over  the  dam.  This 
done,  the  craft  was  again  loaded,  the  holes  were 
plugged,  and,  amidst  the  cheers  of  the  critical  popula- 
tion, the  voyagers  shot  down-stream  on  their  rejoicing 
way. 

Years  afterwards,  when  lyincoln  was  a  practising 
lawyer,  he  whittled  out  a  model  of  his  invention  for 
hoisting  vessels  over  shoals  and  had  it  patented  in 
Washington.  The  curious  visitor  to  the  Patent  Oflice 
in  the  national  capitol  is  shown  to-day  a  little  wooden 
boat  and  an  odd  combination  of  strips  and  bars  by 
which,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  afterwards  said,  a  man  might 
lift  himself  over  a  rail  fence  by  the  waistband  of  his 
breeches. 

The  adventurers  had  a  swift  and  prosperous  voyage 
down  the  river  to  New  Orleans.  This  was  Lincoln's 
second  visit  to  the  land  of  slaver}''.  He  saw  more  of  the 
"  peculiar  institution  "  than  before.  He  saw  men  and 
women  whipped,  bought,  and  sold,  families  separated, 
children  torn  from  their  parents  and  wives  from  their 
husbands.  **  Lincoln  saw  it  ;  his  heart  bled  ;  said  no- 
thing much,  was  silent,  looked  bad.  I  can  say  it, 
knowing  him,  that  it  was  on  this  trip  that  he  formed 
his  opinions  of  slavery.  It  run  its  iron  into  him  then 
and  there.  May,  1831."  said  John  Hanks,  hi  later 
years. 

On  his  return  from  New  Orleans  Lincoln  was  en- 
gaged by  Offutt  to  take  charge  of  a  small  country  store 
which  he  had  opened  at  New  Salem.  So  the  little 
community  that  had  witnessed  the  struggle  and  tri- 
umph on  Rutledge's  dam  now  made  the  acquaintance 
of  the  hero  of  that  exploit  at  closer  range.     He  at  once 


34  Abraham  Lincoln 

established  himself  as  a  favorite  with  the  people,  who, 
rude  and  rough  though  they  were,  readily  appreciated 
the  good  qualities  of  any  stranger  that  came  among 
them. 

In  managing  the  country  store,  as  in  everything 
that  he  undertook  for  others,  Lincoln  did  his  best.  On 
one  occasion,  finding,  late  at  night,  when  he  counted 
over  his  cash,  that  he  had  taken  a  few  cents  from  a 
customer  more  than  was  due,  he  closed  the  store  and 
w^alked  a  long  distance  to  make  good  the  deficiency. 
At  another  time,  discovering  on  the  scales  in  the 
morning  a  weight  with  which  he  had  weighed  out  a 
package  of  tea  for  a  woman,  the  night  before,  he  saw 
that  he  had  given  her  too  little  for  her  money  ;  he 
weighed  out  what  was  due  and  carried  it  to  her,  much 
to  the  surprise  of  the  woman,  who  had  not  known  that 
she  was  short  in  the  amount  of  her  purchase.  We 
have  not  space  to  tell  of  his  efibrts  to  protect  women 
from  insult,  or  children  from  tyranny  ;  for,  in  the  rude 
community  in  which  he  lived,  the  rights  of  the  defence- 
less were  not  always  respected  as  they  should  have  been. 

Not  far  from  New  Salem  was  a  group  of  farras 
known  as  Clary's  Grove.  The  "  Clary's  Grove 
boys,"  as  the  overgrown  young  men  of  the  settle- 
ment were  called,  were  rude,  boisterous,  swaggering, 
and  tremendous  fighters.  They  cast  their  eyes  on 
the  young  stranger  at  Offutt's  store,  so  well  liked  by 
the  women,  and  resolved  that  they  would  "  take  him 
down  a  peg."  Jack  Armstrong,  the  bull}^  of  the  band, 
was  to  do  the  deed.  The  crowd  gathered  around  to 
see  the  sport,  but  the  stalwart  young  Kentuckian  soon 
showed  that  he  was  more  than  a  match  for  the  cham- 
pion of  Clary's  Grove.  Jack  Armstrong  was  slowly 
sinking   under   the  vigorous  wrestling   of  the   long- 


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The  Lincolns  in  Illinois  35 

limbed  Lincoln,  when,  in  his  desperation,  he  resorted 
to  foul  play.  Lincoln,  stung  by  his  meanness,  seized 
the  bully  by  the  throat  with  both  hands,  and,  putting 
forth  all  his  giant  strength,  flung  him  in  the  air,  shak- 
ing him  as  though  he  were  a  child,  the  legs  of  the 
champion  whirling  madly  over  his  head. 

At  this  astounding  performance,  the  gang  of  Clary's 
Grove  broke  into  the  circle,  and  Lincoln,  backing 
against  the  store,  calmly  waited  their  onset.  But  Jack 
Armstrong,  with  what  breath  remained  to  him  warned 
off  his  comrades,  and,  touched  by  a  feeling  of  chivalry, 
shook  his  adversary  by  the  hand,  crying:  ''  Boys!  Abe 
Lincoln  is  the  best  fellow  that  ever  broke  into  this  set- 
tlement !  He  shall  be  one  of  us  !  "  That  settled  it. 
Out  of  the  fight  that  he  had  tried  to  avoid,  Lincoln 
emerged  as  champion.  Thenceforth,  no  truer  friend, 
no  more  devoted  allj^  than  Jack  Armstrong  to  Abraham 
Lincoln  ever  lived.  In  later  days,  when  Lincoln  was 
out  of  money,  out  of  work,  all  that  Jack  had  was  his. 

Lincoln  was  no  fighter.  He  was  brave,  absolutely 
unafraid  of  anybody  or  anything.  He  never  played 
cards,  nor  gambled,  nor  smoked,  nor  used  profane  lan- 
guage, nor  addicted  himself  to  any  of  the  rude  vices  of 
the  times.  But  far  and  wide  he  was  reckoned  a  hero, 
worshipped  by  the  stalwart  wrestlers  and  runners  of 
the  region,  cordially  liked  by  the  women,  respected  as 
a  rising  and  brave  young  fellow  by  the  elders,  and 
earning  for  himself  the  title  that  stuck  to  him  through 
life,  ''  Honest  Abe." 

Abe  Lincoln  became,  by  general  consent,  the  peace- 
maker, the  arbitrator  of  all  the  petty  quarrels  of  the 
neighborhood.  Shunning  vulgar  brawls  himself,  he 
attempted  to  keep  others  out  of  them.  An  absolutely 
honest  man,  he  advised  exact  justice  to  all  who  sought 


36  Abraham   Lincoln 

his  advice  ;  and,  whenever  there  v^as  too  much  vio- 
lence developed  in  debate  around  Offutt's  store  door, 
the  tall  form  of  the  young  manager  was  sure  to  be  seen 
towering  over  the  conflict  ;  and  when  argument  failed 
to  quell  the  disturbance,  those  long  arms  invariably 
brought  peace. 

In  all  his  activities,  however,  Lincoln  never  for  one 
moment  knew  what  it  was  to  "  let  up  "  on  his  reading 
and  studies.  Very  poor  he  was,  but  he  skimped  him- 
self and  went  without  what  many  boys  would  call  ne- 
cessary clothing  to  subscribe  to  the  Louisville  Courier^ 
then  edited  by  that  famous  whig,  George  D.  Prentice, 
a  witty  and  most  brilliant  man.  This  was,  as  he  after- 
wards, said,  his  greatest  luxury.  He  read  every  word, 
and  some  of  its  articles  were  committed  to  memory  by 
sheer  force  of  habit.  Pondering  over  the  editorial  arti- 
cles of  his  favorite  newspaper,  he  attempted  to  discover 
how  they  were  constructed,  and  what  were  the  rules  by 
which  language  was  composed  and  sentences  framed. 

Application  to  the  village  schoolmaster  gave  him  a 
hint  as  to  grammar,  and  he  was  not  satisfied  until  he 
had  hunted  down,  somewhere  in  the  region,  a  copy  of 
Kirkham's  Grammar.  This  he  carried  home  in  great 
triumph,  nor  did  he  pause  until  he  had  mastered  its 
contents.  He  said  that  he  was  surprised  to  find  how 
little  there  was  in  a  work  that  was  made  so  much  of  by 
the  schoolmaster.  He  had  *  *  collared  "  it  in  a  week, 
and  had  returned  the  book  to  its  owner. 


CHAPTER  V 

A   PI.UNGK   INTO   POI.ITICS 

UP  to  this  time,  Lincoln  had  never  held  any  ofl&ce 
except  that  of  an  occasional  clerk  of  election. 
But  the  spring  of  1832  found  him  out  of  business,  out 
of  work.  Offutt's  store  had  gone  to  pieces,  that  gen- 
tleman's numerous  irons  in  the  fire  having  at  last 
proved  too  many  for  him.  If  ever  Lincoln  was  at  lib- 
erty to  try  his  hand  at  politics,  this  was  the  time.  He 
had  been  trained,  or  rather  had  grown  up,  in  the  back- 
woods, had  gradually  made  the  acquaintance  of  man- 
kind, had  meditated  and  read,  and  had  accustomed 
himself  to  speaking  extemporaneously.  He  was  a 
good  story-teller,  alert,  quick-witted,  full  of  apt  illus- 
tration and  anecdote,  and  was  so  close  a  student  of 
human  nature  that  he  was  always  able  to  adapt  himself 
to  his  little  audience.  Above  all,  by  his  unvarying 
good-nature  and  helpfulness  he  had  made  friends  of 
all  who  ever  met  him. 

At  the  bottom  of  a  barrel  of  ''  trash  "  that  Offutt  had 
taken  in  exchange  for  goods,  Lincoln  found  two  old 
law  books.  On  these  he  fell  like  a  hungry  child,  and 
he  never  left  them  until  he  had  mavStered  their  contents. 
In  this  way,  Lincoln  had  absorbed  a  great  deal  of  use- 
ful knowledge.  He  was  always  thirsty  for  information. 
If  he  heard  of  a  new"  book,  and  new  books  were  pretty 

37 


38  Abraham  Lincoln 

scarce  in  those  days,  he  was  restless  until  he  had  got  a 
sight  at  it.  For  this  purpose,  he  walked  many  a  mile, 
counting  no  labor,  no  privation,  anything,  if  it  brought 
him  nearer  the  coveted  information  of  men  and  things. 

Lincoln  resolved  to  become  a  candidate  for  Repre- 
sentative to  the  Legislature,  and  in  a  circular,  dated 
March  9,  1832,  he  appealed  to  his  friends  and  fellow- 
citizens  to  vote  for  him.  He  had  by  this  time  become 
a  pronounced  Whig  in  politics,  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  his  great  chief  and  pattern,  Henry  Clay.  But 
he  hoped,  and  not  without  reason,  to  secure  many  of 
the  votes  of  those  who  knew  and  liked  him  for  his 
manly  and  admirable  qualities.  Before  the  election 
came  on,  however,  there  was  a  call  for  volunteers  to  re- 
pel hostile  Indians.  The  famous  chief,  Black  Hawk, 
was  on  the  war-path,  and  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  braves 
had  crossed  the  Mississippi  to  the  northern  part  of  the 
State  and  was  pursuing  his  way  up-stream  in  a  lei- 
surely manner.  The  Governor  of  Illinois  called  for  two 
thousand  volunteers.    The  country  was  panic-stricken. 

Lincol  n  was  among  the  first  to  volunteer.  At  the  head 
of  a  party  of  Sangamon  County  men,  among  whom  were 
many  of  the  Clary's  Grove  boys,  Lincoln  made  his  way 
to  the  north,  where  General  Atkinson,  then  in  com- 
mand of  the  small  United  States  force  operating  in  the 
region,  was  encamped.  The  Clary's  Grove  boys  in- 
sisted that  nobody  but  Lincoln  should  lead  them  to  the 
war.  When  the  time  came  for  their  captain  to  be 
chosen,  word  was  given  that  all  in  favor  of  Lincoln 
should  range  themselves  by  his  side,  as  he  stood  on  the 
village  green,  and  all  who  favored  Kirkpatrick,  the 
rival  candidate,  should  take  position  near  him.  When 
the  lines  were  formed,  Lincoln's  was  three  times  as 
long  as  Kirkpatrick' s  ;  and  so  he  was  joyfully  declared 


A  Plunge  Into  Politics  39 

to  be  elected.  This  unsought  honor,  the  first  elective 
office  that  he  ever  held,  gave  Iviucoln  much  solid 
satisfaction. 

Lincoln's  company  was  mustered  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  Rock  River,  by 
Robert  Anderson,  a  lieutenant  and  assistant  inspector- 
general  of  the  Army.  The  little  force  reported  to 
Colonel  Zachary  Taylor,  United  States  Army.  In  later 
years,  Robert  Anderson  commanded  at  Fort  Sumter 
when  the  first  gun  of  the  Rebellion  was  fired.  As 
"  Rough  and  Ready,"  General  Taylor  was  endeared 
to  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  and  he  was  elected  to 
the  presidency  in  1848.  The  campaign  against  Black 
Hawk  was  short  and  decisive. 

In  this  connection  two  incidents  are  related  of  Lin- 
coln. An  aged  Indian,  half-starved  and  alone,  came 
into  camp,  one  day,  bearing  a  safe-conduct  from  Gen- 
eral Cass.  The  soldiers,  infuriated  by  some  recent 
atrocities  of  Black  Hawk's  men,  fell  upon  him  and 
would  have  killed  him.  Lincoln,  hearing  the  tumult, 
burst  excitedly  into  the  group  and,  throwing  up  their 
levelled  muskets  with  his  own  hands,  cried  :  "  Boys  ! 
You  shall  not  do  this  thing  !  You  shall  not  shoot  at 
this  Indian  !  ' '  For  an  instant,  he  stood  defiantly  be- 
fore the  red  refugee,  sheltering  him  from  their  ready 
weapons,  and  it  was  for  a  time  doubtful  if  both  would 
not  bite  the  dust.  But  the  men,  seeing  the  courage 
and  manliness  of  their  captain,  lowered  their  guns  and 
turned  sullenly  away.  One  of  Lincoln's  faithful  com- 
rades, Bill  Green,  said  of  this,  "  I  never  saw  Lincoln 
so  roused  before." 

When  Lincoln  was  in  the  White  House,  he  told  this 
story  :  The  only  time  he  saw  blood  in  this  campaign 
was  one  morning  when,  marching  up  a  little  valley 


40  Abraham  Lincoln 

to  reinforce  a  squad  of  outposts,  he  came,  just  at  sun- 
rise, upon  their  tent  and  found  the  men  dead,  all  l3dng 
with  their  heads  towards  the  rising  sun,  and  the  round 
red  spot  that  marked  where  they  had  been  scalped 
gleaming  redly  in  the  light  of  the  sun.  This  was 
Lincoln's  first  glimpse  of  what  war  might  be. 

In  1848,  while  Lincoln  was  in  Congress,  General 
Lewis  Cass  was  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  and  his 
friends  made  much  of  his  military  record.  To  Lin- 
coln's mind,  ever  disposed  to  the  humorous  side  of 
things,  this  seemed  absurd,  and,  addressing  the  Chair 
one  day  in  the  course  of  debate,  he  said: 

"  Did  you  know,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  am  a  military  hero  ? 
In  the  daj^s  of  the  Black  Hawk  War  I  fought,  bled,  and 
came  away.  I  was  not  at  Stillman's  defeat,  but  I  was 
about  as  near  it  as  General  Cass  was  to  Hull's  surren- 
der ;  and,  like  him,  I  saw  the  place  very  soon  after- 
wards. It  is  quite  certain  I  did  not  break  my  sword, 
for  I  had  none  to  break,  but  I  bent  my  musket  pretty 
badly  on  one  occasion.  If  General  Cass  went  in  ad- 
vance of  me  picking  whortleberries,  I  guess  I  surpassed 
him  in  charges  on  the  wild  onions.  If  he  saw  any  live 
fighting  Indians,  it  was  more  than  I  did,  but  I  had  a 
good  many  bloody  struggles  with  the  mosquitoes  ;  and 
although  I  never  fainted  from  loss  of  blood,  I  can  truly 
say  I  was  often  very  hungry.  Mr.  Speaker,  if  ever  I 
should  conclude  to  doff  whatever  our  Democratic 
friends  may  suppose  there  is  of  black-cockade  Federal- 
ism about  me,  and  thereupon  they  shall  take  me  up  as 
their  candidate  for  the  presidency,  I  protest  that  they 
shall  not  make  fun  of  me,  as  they  have  of  General 
Cass,  by  attempting  to  write  me  into  a  military  hero." 

When  Black  Hawk  had  been  hunted  out,  Lincoln 
quickly  made  his  way  back   to  Sangamon   County. 


A   Plunge  into   Politics  41 

The  election  soon  came  on,  and,  although  he  received 
a  majority  of  the  votes  of  his  own  precinct,  he  failed  to 
carry  his  district.  In  those  primitive  days,  it  was  not 
usual  for  candidates  to  expend  much  money  in  a  can- 
vass, and  this  fact  did  not  make  Lincoln's  defeat  so 
great  a  misfortune  to  him  as  it  might  have  been  under 
other  circumstances.  In  the  circular  before  mentioned, 
he  had  taken  ground  as  a  Whig;  and  in  one  of  the  few 
speeches  of  which  we  have  scanty  reports,  he  said  :  '*  I 
am  in  favor  of  a  national  bank  ;  I  am  in  favor  of  the 
internal-improvement  system,  and  of  a  protective  tariff. 
These  are  my  sentiments  and  political  principles." 
They  were  sentiments  and  principles  exactly  opposed 
to  the  party  in  power.  It  cost  some  effort,  perhaps, 
for  a  poor  and  comparatively  unknown  young  man, 
without  family  friends  to  back  him,  to  cast  in  his  lot 
with  the  despised  minority.  But  in  that  path  Lincoln 
followed. 

Lincoln's  canvass  brought  him  into  contact  with 
many  of  the  prominent  men  of  that  part  of  the  State. 
His  speeches  were  argumentative,  interspersed  with 
racy  anecdotes,  full  of  humor,  and  more  diffuse,  per- 
haps., than  those  delivered  in  later  years.  It  was  not 
uncommon  for  the  audience  to  ask  questions  of  the 
speaker  while  he  was  in  full  tide  of  his  address.  Lin- 
coln always  answered  these  queries,  when  they  were 
not  impertinent,  with  ready  good-humor  and  generally 
with  what  was  called  *'  an  actual  settler  of  an  argu- 
ment." On  one  occasion,  seeing  from  his  elevation 
that  a  friend  of  his  in  the  crowd  before  him  had  been 
attacked  by  a  ruffianly  fellow,  and  was  getting  the 
worst  of  it,  Lincoln  descended  from  his  temporary  ros- 
trum, seized  the  assailant  by  the  scruff  of  the  neck, 
threw  him  about  ten  feet,  and  then,  having  discharged 


42  Abraham   Lincoln 

his  duty  as  a  keeper  of  the  peace,  calmly  remounted 
the  stump  and  went  on  with  his  speech  as  if  nothing 
had  happened  to  interrupt  it. 

Defeated  in  his  race  for  the  Legislature,  Lincoln  was 
forced  to  look  around  him  for  some  means  of  livelihood. 
He  had  none.  He  had  dabbled  in  politics  and  done 
some  campaigning,  and  these  occupations  had  unfitted 
him  for  resuming  his  place  as  a  day  laborer.  It  hap- 
pened that  the  store  of  a  neighboring  merchant,  one 
Radford,  had  become  offensive  to  the  Clary's  Grove 
boys,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  and  they  promptly 
wrecked  it,  staving  in  the  windows  and  prying  out  one 
corner  of  its  foundations.  Radford  thought  it  best  to 
move  thence,  and  he  sold  his  stock  to  a  chance  passer- 
by named  Greene,  the  price  being  two  hundred  dol- 
lars—  on  paper.  Lincoln  was  called  in  to  make  an 
inventory  of  the  contents  of  the  damaged  building, 
and,  being  fascinated  with  the  possibilities  of  the  stock, 
he  offered  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  lot. 
Greene  gladly  accepted  the  proposition,  and  gave  full 
possession  of  the  establishment  to  Lincoln,  making 
fifty  dollars  on  his  bargain  —  also  on  paper.  For  not  a 
cent  of  hard  money  changed  hands,  the  consideration 
being,  as  usual,  a  note  of  hand. 

In  this  venture,  Lincoln  had  a  partner,  one  Berry, 
an  idle  and  dissolute  fellow,  from  whom  he  was  soon 
obliged  to  separate,  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  enter- 
prise, begun  with  so  much  promise  and  so  many  ex- 
pectations, fell  into  ruin,  and  the  goods  were  sold  in 
lots  to  suit  purchasers,  to  close  out  the  concern.  Lin- 
coln was  again  on  the  world  without  occupation,  and 
loaded  dow^n  with  debts  incurred  in  this  latest  specula- 
tion. The  store,  as  he  expressed  it,  had  "  winked 
out,"   and  he  had  no  immediate  recourse.      He  had 


A  Plunge  Into  Politics  43 

read  law-books  in  a  desultory  and  unaided  way,  and 
now  he  tackled  them  with  more  energy  than  ever, 
dimly  realizing  that  here,  at  least,  was  a  gleam  of  lead- 
ing light  for  him.  He  borrowed  every  book  on  law 
that  he  could  find,  the  attorneys  of  the  region  round 
about  good-naturedly  lending  him  whatever  they  had. 

He  also  bought  an  old  book  of  legal  forms,  and 
amused  himself  and  his  neighbors  with  drawing  up 
imaginary  deeds,  wills,  and  conveyances  in  which  fic- 
titious property  was  disposed  of  at  tremendous  prices  ; 
this  by  way  of  practice.  But  whenever  an  oppor- 
tunity occurred  the  people  went  to  "  Abe  I^incoln  " 
for  advice  and  assistance  in  the  selling  or  mortgaging 
of  real  estate,  and  thus  he  gradually  worked  his  way 
into  something  like  a  business.  His  fees  were  gener- 
ally necessaries  of  life  turned  in  to  the  family  with 
whom  he  happened  to  board.  He  also  undertook 
small  cases  on  trial  before  the  justice  of  the  peace,  and, 
to  use  his  own  figure  of  speech,  ''  tried  on  a  dog  "  his 
legal  eloquence  and  lore. 

About  this  time,  too,  that  is  to  say,  in  1833,  he 
undertook  the  study  of  surveying,  and,  as  in  other 
undertakings,  he  succeeded  so  well  that  he  soon  became 
an  expert.  His  instruments  were  few  and  simple  ; 
contemporaries  have  said  that  his  first  chain  was  a 
grape-vine.  But  maps  and  plots  of  land  surveyed  by 
lyincoln,  still  extant,  show  a  neatness  and  semblance 
of  accuracy  that  testify  to  the  rigid  care  that  he  always 
exercised  in  all  his  work. 

In  May,  1833,  Andrew  Jackson  being  President, 
Abraham  I^incoln  was  appointed  postmaster  of  New 
Salem.  The  oflSce  had  very  small  revenues  and  no 
political  importance.  It  was  given  to  I^incoln,  because 
all  his  neighbors  wanted  him  to  have  it,  and  because  he 


44  Abraham   Lincoln 

was  the  only  man  willing  to  take  it  and  able  to  make 
out  the  necessary  returns  to  the  post-office  department. 
The  mail  was  light,  and  Lincoln,  as  tradition  runs, 
generally  carried  the  post-office  in  his  hat.  He  could 
not  keep  at  home,  of  course,  and  when  a  villager  met 
him  and  asked  if  there  were  letters  for  him,  the  post- 
master gravely  searched  through  his  hat  for  an  answer. 
But  there  were  newspapers  brought  to  New  Salem  by 
this  weeklj^  mail,  and  Lincoln  religiousl}^  made  it  his 
duty  to  read  them  all  before  they  could  be  called  for  ; 
this,  he  used  to  say,  made  the  office  worth  more  to 
him  than  many  times  the  amount  of  the  money  income. 

In  course  of  time,  the  population  of  New  Salem 
migrated  to  other  and  more  promising  localities,  and 
the  post-office  was  discontinued.  When  an  agent  of 
the  post-office  department  came  to  settle  the  accounts 
and  to  collect  the  small  balance  due  to  the  Government, 
Lincoln's  friend,  Dr.  A.  G.  Henr}^,  happened  to  be 
present,  and,  knowing  Lincoln's  extreme  poverty, 
offered  to  lend  him  the  sum  required.  ''  Hold  on  a 
minute,"  said  Lincoln,  "  and  let  's  see  how  we  come 
out."  Going  to  his  sleeping- room,  he  brought  out  an 
old  stocking  and,  untying  it,  poured  on  the  table  the 
exact  amount,  just  as  it  had  been  paid  to  him  in  pen- 
nies and  small  silver  pieces.  Many  a  time  had  Lincoln 
been  in  bitter  want,  many  a  time  hard-pressed  for 
money;  but  the  receipts  of  the  little  post-office  were  to 
him  a  sacred  trust,  to  be  kept  until  required  of  him. 

The  debt  incurred  by  the  "winking  out"  of  the 
store  of  Berry  &  Lincoln  pressed  upon  him.  So  vast 
did  it  seem  that  he  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  it  as 
"  the  national  debt."  But,  unlike  most  national  debts, 
it  was  ultimately  paid.  In  the  course  of  business,  the 
notes  that  he  and  Berry  had  given  for  the  stock-in- 


A  Plunge  into   Politics  45 

trade  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  person  who  was  more 
than  usually  impatient  ;  for  every  man's  credit,  in 
those  days,  was  unlimited.  The  creditor  in  this  case 
seized  Lincoln's  horse,  saddle,  and  bridle  and  sold 
them  under  a  sheriff's  execution.  One  of  Lincoln's 
steadfast  friends,  Bolin  Greene,  attended  the  sale,  from 
which  Lincoln,  greatly  cast  down  in  his  mind,  absented 
himself.  Greene  bought  the  outfit,  and,  to  Lincoln's 
great  surprise  and  relief,  gave  them  to  him  with  the 
injunction,  "  Pay  for  them,  Abe,  when  you  get  ready, 
and  if  you  never  get  ready,  it  's  all  the  same  to  me." 
Not  long  after  this,  Bolin  Greene  —  long  be  his  name 
remembered  !  —  died,  and  Lincoln  was  asked  by  his 
townsmen  of  New  Salem  to  deliver  a  eulogy  at  his 
burial.  The  rising  young  lawyer  attempted  the  grate- 
ful task,  but  his  voice  failed  him.  The  tears  ran  down 
his  cheeks  as  he  rose  to  speak,  and,  overcome  with 
emotion,  he  sat  down  without  saying  a  word.  More 
eloquent  than  words,  his  tears  spoke  his  affection  for 
the  man  who  had  been  his  friend  in  need. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THK  YOUNG   POI.ITICIAN 

IN  1834,  Lincoln  again  became  a  candidate  for  the 
Legislature.  This  was  to  be  expected.  On  the 
previous  occasion,  he  had  made  what  was  a  very  good 
run,  although,  as  we  have  seen,  he  had  a  very  few 
days  in  which  to  finish  his  canvass  after  returning  from 
the  war.  The  election  took  place  in  August,  and, 
after  a  sharp  fight,  Lincoln  was  elected.  Man^^  Demo- 
crats, we  are  told,  voted  for  him  from  purely  personal 
and  friendly  reasons,  and  he  was  sure  of  the  united 
support  of  the  Whigs.  The  four  successful  candidates, 
with  their  votes,  were  as  follows  :  Lincoln,  1376  ; 
Dawson,  1370;  Carpenter,  11 70;  Stuart,  1164  ;  Lin- 
coln thus  leading  the  poll.  To  say  that  Lincoln  was 
elated,  would  faintly  express  his  satisfaction  over  this 
great  but  not  unexpected  triumph.  He  was  now 
twenty-five  years  old,  hardy,  in  perfect  health,  manly, 
tolerably  self-possessed,  and  not  ashamed  to  address 
himself  to  the  discussion  of  any  of  the  questions  of  the 
day,  and  fully  competent  to  hold  his  own  with  the  gen- 
eral run  of  debaters  on  the  stump,  or  in  the  Legislature. 
He  had  mastered  the  elementary  law-books,  was 
familiar  with  legal  phrases  and  forms,  knew  every  rod 
of  the  country  roundabout  the  region  from  which  he 
was  a  representative,  and,  above  all,  knew  the  people, 

46 


The  Young  Politician  47 

their  wants,  their  hopes,  fears,  aspirations,  habits,  and 
manner  of  life. 

But  we  do  not  learn  that  in  the  I^egislature  of  that 
year  I^incoln  was  remarkable  for  anything  but  his 
height,  then  six  feet  and  four  inches.  If  he  created 
any  impression  otherwise,  it  was  when,  the  day's  ses- 
sion over,  he  tilted  his  chair  back  in  some  place  where 
the  budding  statesmen  chiefly  congregated,  and  enter- 
tained them  with  stories  of  which  the  repute  has  lasted 
long.  But  the  tall  j^oung  backwoodsman,  now  passing 
into  the  era  of  statesmanship,  was  keenly  alive  to  all 
that  was  going  on.  He  held  his  place  in  the  legislative 
debates,  but  he  listened  to  others.  He  introduced  few 
bills,  but  he  narrowly  observed  what  other  men  were 
doing  in  this  direction  ;  and,  while  he  said  little,  he 
took  in  everything  and  thought  a  great  deal.  The 
session  of  that  winter  was  not  lost  to  him. 

Next  year,  he  was  again  nominated  for  the  I^egisla- 
ture  and  was  again  elected,  as  in  1834.  In  his  appeal 
to  the  voters,  that  year,  Lincoln  said  :  "  I  go  for  all 
sharing  the  privileges  of  the  Government  who  assist  in 
bearing  its  burdens.  Consequently,  I  go  for  admitting 
all  whites  to  the  right  of  suffrage  who  pay  taxes  or 
bear  arms  (by  no  means  excluding  females)."  And 
again  :  "  Whether  elected  or  not,  I  go  for  distributing 
the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  to  the  sev- 
eral States,  to  enable  our  State,  in  common  with  other 
States,  to  dig  canals  and  construct  railroads  without 
borrowing  money  and  paying  interest  on  it."  At  that 
time  there  were  two  great  questions  before  the  people  : 
one  was  the  right  of  persons  not  born  in  the  United 
States  to  vote  ;  and  the  other  was  the  policy  of  making 
public  improvements,  such  as  those  named  by  Lincoln, 
at  public  expense. 


48  Abraham   Lincoln 

During  his  canvass,  Lincoln  made  additions  to  his 
reputation  for  ready  wit  and  humor.  On  one  occasion 
he  was  pitted  against  George  Forquer,  who,  from  being 
a  leading  Whig,  had  become  a  bitter  *'  whole-hog 
Jackson  man,"  and  had  been  rewarded  for  his  apostasy 
with  a  good  office.  Forquer  was  not  a  candidate  in 
this  canvass,  but  was  called  in  to  "  boom  "  the  Demo- 
cratic nominee  against  lyincoln.  Riding  into  Spring- 
field, where  the  meeting  was  to  be  held,  Lincoln's 
attention  was  drawn  to  Forquer' s  fine  house,  on  which 
was  a  lightning-rod,  then  a  great  novelty  in  those 
parts.  Lincoln  had  been  allotted  to  close  the  debate, 
and  Forquer,  who  spoke  next  before  him,  devoted 
himself  to  "  taking  down  "  the  young  man  from  New 
Salem.  He  ridiculed  his  dress,  manners,  and  rough 
personal  appearance,  and,  with  much  pompositj^,  de- 
rided him  as  an  uncouth  j^oungster. 

Lincoln,  on  rising  to  reply,  stood  for  a  moment  with 
flashing  e3^es  and  pale  cheeks,  betraying  his  inward 
but  unspoken  wrath.  He  began  by  answering  very 
briefly  this  ungenerous  attack.  He  said  :  "  I  am  not 
so  j^oung  in  years  as  I  am  in  the  tricks  and  the  trades 
of  a  politician  ;  but,  live  long,  or  die  3'Oung,  I  would 
rather  die  now  than,  like  that  gentleman,  change  my 
politics,  and  with  the  change,  receive  an  office  worth 
three  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  then  feel  obliged  to 
erect  a  lightning-rod  over  my  house  to  protect  a  guilt}^ 
conscience  from  an  offended  God."  The  effect  upon 
the  simple  audience,  gathered  there  in  the  open  air, 
was  electrical.  Here  was  a  pompous  and  vainglorious 
man,  who,  as  the  settlers  thought,  could  not  sleep  in 
his  fine  house,  compared  with  which  their  rude  cabins 
were  poor  indeed,  without  setting  up  this  unusual  and 
heaven-defying  instrument.      When   Forquer  rose  to 


The  Young  Politician  49 

speak,  later  on  in  the  canvass,  people  said  :  ''  That  's 
the  man  who  dare  not  sleep  in  his  own  house  without  a 
lightning-rod  to  keep  off  the  vengeance  of  the  Al- 
mighty." 

At  another  time,  Lincoln  met  on  the  stump  Colonel 
Richard  Taylor,  a  self- conceited  and  dandified  man, 
who  wore  a  gold  chain,  ruffled  shirt,  and  other  adorn- 
ments to  which  the  men  of  southern  Illinois  were  quite 
unaccustomed.  It  was  the  business  of  the  Democrats 
to  rate  themselves  as  the  hard-working  bone  and  sinew 
of  the  land,  and  to  stigmatize  the  Whigs  as  aristocrats, 
ruffled-shirted  gentry.  So  Colonel  Taylor  spoke  with 
his  finery  concealed  under  a  long  surtout.  But  when 
he  was  making  a  sweeping  gesture  he  accidentally 
threw  open  his  surtout,  and  revealed  his  gorgeous 
array  of  chains,  seals,  pendants,  and  ruffles.  While 
he  paused  in  embarrassment,  Lincoln  seized  upon  the 
opportunity,  and,  standing  in  full  view,  with  his  coarse 
attire  and  rough  appearance  strongly  contrasting  with 
the  dandified  Colonel,  cried,  laying  his  hand  on  his 
jeans-clad  breast  :  ''  Here  is  your  aristocrat,  one  of 
your  silk-stocking  gentry,  at  your  service."  Then, 
spreading  out  his  hands,  bronzed  and  gaunt  with  toil  : 
*'  Here  is  your  rag-baron  with  lily-white  hands.  Yes, 
I  suppose,  according  to  my  friend  Taj-lor,  I  am  a 
bloated  aristocrat  !  "  It  was  a  long  time  before  the 
amiable  Colonel  Taylor  heard  the  last  of  that  exposure 
and  humiliation. 

In  the  Legislature  to  which  Lincoln  had  been  elected 
were  not  a  few  men  whom  we  shall  meet  later  on  in 
this  strange,  eventful  history.  One  of  these  was  Ed- 
ward D.  Baker,  a  wonderful  orator,  afterwards  Lin- 
coln's associate  in  the  law,  and  subsequently  United 
States  Senator  from  Oregon,  a  general  in  the  army,  and 


50  Abraham  Lincoln 

killed  at  Ball's  BliifF.  Another  was  Stephen  Arnold 
Douglas;  others  were  John  J.  Hardin,  James  Shields, 
WilHam  A.  Richardson,  John  Logan,  and  John  A. 
McClernand.  From  Savannah  County  there  were  two 
Senators  and  seven  Representatives,  nine  in  all,  and 
each  man  very  tall,  Lincoln  being  the  tallest  of  the 
nine,  and  familiarly  known  as  '*  the  Sangamon 
chief"  The  combined  height  of  this  tall  delegation 
was  fifty-five  feet.  No  wonder  that  it  was  popularly 
known  as  *'  the  Long  Nine."  One  of  the  most 
notable  achievements  of  Sangamon  County's  '*  Long 
Nine  "  that  winter  was  the  removal  of  the  capital  of 
the  State  from  Vandalia,  Macon  County,  to  Spring- 
field, Sangamon  County,  a  triumph  for  which  Lincoln 
received  generous  credit  from  his  admiring  colleagues 
of  the  delegation. 

At  this  session,  too,  Lincoln  put  himself  on  record 
for  the  first  time  as  opposed  to  the  further  extension 
of  the  American  system  of  human  slavery.  The  tem- 
per of  the  times,  at  least  in  that  region,  was  favorable 
to  slavery.  Illinois  and  Indiana  were  affected  by  the 
pro-slaverj^  influences  of  their  nearest  neighbors.  Ken- 
tuck}^  and  Missouri,  rivals  in  trade  and  commerce. 
The  legislation  of  these  two  States  was  designed  to 
encourage  slave-holding  in  the  slave-holding  States 
and  discourage  all  anti-slavery  agitation  in  non-slave- 
holding  States.  Certain  resolutions  on  the  subject 
of  slavery  were  passed  by  the  Illinois  Legislature 
during  the  session  of  which  we  are  writing;  what  they 
were,  we  cannot  tell,  for  they  have  vanished  into 
oblivion ;  but  undoubtedly  they  were  intended  to  con- 
vince slave-holding  customers  and  traders  that  Illinois 
could  be  relied  upon  to  stem  the  rising  tide  of  anti- 
slavery   in    the   North.     As   their    answer  to    these 


The  Young  Politician  51 

utterances,  Abraham  lyincoln  and  Dan  Stone  drew  up 
and  signed  the  following  paper  : 

"March  3,  1837. 

"  Resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery 
having  passed  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly 
at  its  present  session,  the  undersigned  hereby  protest 
against  the  passage  of  the  same. 

"  They  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is 
founded  on  both  injustice  and  bad  policy,  but  that  the 
promulgation  of  abolition  doctrines  tends  rather  to  in- 
crease than  abate  its  evils. 

''  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  has  no  power  under  the  Constitution  to  interfere 
with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  different  States. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  has  the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  abol- 
ish slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  but  that  the 
power  ought  not  to  be  exercised,  unless  at  the  request 
of  the  people  of  the  District. 

"  The  difference  between  these  opinions  and  those 
contained  in  the  above  resolutions  is  their  reason  for 
entering  this  protest. 

(Signed)  *'  Dan  Stone, 

/'A.  I^INCOLN, 

**  Representatives  from  the  county  of  Sangamon." 

This  protest  was  received  and  ordered  to  be  spread 
on  the  journals  of  the  House,  much  to  the  regret  of 
some  of  Ivincoln's  more  timorous  friends,  who  probably 
did  not  believe  that  slavery  could  pass  away  from  the 
face  of  the  land  during  the  time  of  any  then  living.  It 
was,  for  those  times,  a  bold  and  dangerous  thing  to  say 
that  the  institution  of  slavery  was  founded  on  injustice 
and  bad  policy.     Men  had  been  mobbed  and  treated 


52  Abraham  Lincoln 

with  violence  for  saying  no  more  than  this,  so  intol- 
erant and  brutal  was  the  spirit  of  the  slave-owning  and 
slavery-defending  class. 

On  the  whole,  the  doings  of  Lincoln  and  the  other 
members  of  "  the  Long  Nine  "  were  highly  acceptable 
to  the  people  of  Sangamon  County.  The  Lincoln- 
Stone  protest  was  looked  upon  as  a  harmless  vagary, 
already  overshadowed  by  the  greatness  of  the  feat  of 
moving  the  State  capital  to  Springfield.  The  long- 
limbed  group  was  hailed  with  great  acclaim,  and  nu- 
merous feasts  and  festivities  were  given  in  its  honor. 

Among  the  toasts  offered  in  praise  of  '*  the  Sangamon 
chief  "  were  these  :  "  Abraham  Lincoln  :  he  has  ful- 
filled the  expectations  of  his  friends  and  disappointed 
the  hopes  of  his  enemies."  "  A.  Lincoln  :  one  of 
nature's  noblemen." 

In  April,  1837,  Lincoln  went  to  Springfield,  the  new 
capital  of  the  State,  where  he  established  himself  in 
the  practice  of  law,  and  where  he  remained  until  his 
election  to  the  presidency.  He  had  managed,  crippled 
though  he  was  with  *'  the  national  debt,"  to  earn  a 
scanty  livelihood  and  to  keep  good  his  credit.  But 
the  new  venture  was  a  doubtful  one,  and  he  undertook 
it  with  many  misgivings.  He  rode  into  town  on  a 
borrowed  horse,  his  earthly  possessions  packed  in  a 
pair  of  saddle-bags  fastened  to  the  crupper  of  his  sad- 
dle. Tying  the  horse  to  a  fence-post,  Lincoln  sought 
the  store  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Joshua  F.  Speed,  formerly 
of  Kentucky,  and  asked  for  information  concerning 
board  and  lodging.  He  proposed  to  hire  a  room,  fur- 
nish it,  and,  as  he  expressed  it,  *'  browse  around  "  for 
his  sustenance.  To  his  great  dismay,  the  price  of  the 
barest  necessaries  in  the  way  of  furniture  would  cost 
seventeen  dollars. 


The  Young  Politician  53 

Lincoln  said,  sadly:  *'  It  is  cheap  enough,  but,  cheap 
as  it  is,  I  have  not  the  money  to  pay  for  it.  But  if  you 
will  credit  me  until  Christmas,  and  my  experiment 
here  is  a  success,  I  will  pay  you  then.  If  I  fail,  I 
will  probably  never  be  able  to  pay  you." 

Speed  replied  :  "I  have  a  very  large  double  bed 
which  you  are  perfectly  welcome  to  share  with  me,  if 
you  choose." 

*'  Where  is  your  bed  ?  "  asked  Lincoln. 

*'  Up-stairs,"  replied  Speed. 

Lincoln  took  his  saddle-bags  on  his  arm  and  went 
up-stairs,  set  them  on  the  floor,  took  a  swift  survey 
of  the  premises,  and  then  came  down  again,  good- 
humoredly  laughing,  and  said:  '*  Speed,  I  am  moved." 
And  Lincoln  was  then  settled  in  his  new  quarters  with 
his  steadfast  friend,  Mr.  Speed. 

The  new  capital  of  Illinois  was  a  large  village,  its 
population  being  about  eighteen  thousand.  It  was  the 
county-seat  of  Sangamon,  and  the  United  States  Court 
for  that  circuit  was  held  there.  These,  with  the  annual 
session  of  the  Legislature,  imparted  to  the  embryo 
metropolis  considerable  importance.  To  the  shy  son 
of  the  Kentucky  backwoods,  doubtless,  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  "  flourishing  about  "  among  the  people 
of  the  capital  ;  but  we  must  make  allowance  for  the 
fact  that  Springfield,  like  Lincoln,  was  only  just 
emerging  from  the  backwoods. 

The  court-house  was  built  of  logs,  and  this  was  true 
of  nearly  all  the  court-houses  on  the  circuit.  The 
judge  sat  at  a  cloth-covered  table,  behind  a  rail  that 
separated  the  awful  majesty  of  the  bench  from  the  bar 
and  people.  The  rest  of  the  vSpace  was  occupied  by  a 
promiscuous  crowd,  and  it  was  a  very  dull  day  when 
the  court-house  audience  did  not  press  hard  upon  the 


54  Abraham  Lincoln 

accommodations  allotted  for  clerk,  bar,  and  official 
attendants  at  the  trial.  For  the  court-house  afforded, 
in  those  days  of  few  amusements,  almost  the  only  in- 
door entertainment  of  the  people.  Here  they  found 
tragedy,  comedy,  elocution,  contests  of  wit  and  logic, 
and  all  that  material  for  neighborhood  gossip  that  is 
needed  so  keenlj^  in  sparsely  settled  communities. 

The  lawyers  rode  horseback  from  court-house  to 
court-house,  trying  cases  and  following  the  presiding 
judges  in  their  circuit.  Each  limb  of  the  law  carried 
with  him,  in  his  saddle-bags,  a  change  of  raiment,  a 
few  law-books,  and  the  articles  of  use  indispensable  to 
the  hard-faring  traveller.  Manners  were  vSimple,  even 
rude,  but  kindly  and  hospitable.  It  was  on  these  long 
jaunts,  travelled  in  company  with  judges,  witnesses, 
and  jurymen,  that  Lincoln  picked  up  many  of  his 
stories  of  wild  Western  life  and  manners. 

Once,  I^incoln,  having  assisted  the  prosecuting  attor- 
ney in  the  trial  of  a  man  who  had  taken  some  of  his 
neighbor's  chickens,  fell  in,  next  day,  jogging  along  the 
highway,  with  the  foreman  of  the  jury  who  had  con- 
victed the  hen-stealer.  The  man  complimented  Lin- 
coln on  the  zeal  and  ability  of  the  prosecution,  and 
remarked  :  "  Why,  when  the  country  was  young  and 
I  was  stronger  than  I  am  now,  I  did  n't  mind  backing 
off  a  sheep  now  and  again.  But  stealing  hens!  "  The 
good  man  could  not  find  words  to  express  his  contempt 
for  a  man  who  would  steal  hens. 

On  another  occasion,  while  liding  the  circuit,  Lin- 
coln was  missed  from  the  party,  having  loitered,  appa- 
rentl}^,  near  a  thicket  of  wild  plum  trees  where  the 
cavalcade  had  stopped  to  water  their  steeds.  One  of 
the  company,  coming  up  with  the  others,  reported,  in 
answer  to  questions  :  ' '  When  I  saw  him  last,  he  had 


The  Young  Politician  55 

caught  two  young  birds  that  the  wind  had  blown  out 
of  their  nest,  and  was  hunting  for  the  nest  to  put  them 
back."  The  men  ralhed  Lincoln  on  his  tender-heart- 
edness, when  he  caught  up  with  them.  But  he  said  : 
"  I  could  not  have  slept  unless  I  had  restored  those 
little  birds  to  their  mother." 

Lincoln  formed  a  law  partnership  with  John  T. 
Stuart,  of  Springfield,  in  April,  1837,  and  this  relation 
continued  until  April,  1841,  when  Lincoln  associated 
himself  in  business  with  Stephen  T.  Logan.  This 
partnership  was  dissolved  in  September,  1843,  when 
the  law  firm  of  Abraham  Lincoln  &  William  H. 
Herndon  was  formed,  and  this  co-partnership  was  not 
dissolved  until  the  death  of  Lincoln,  in  1865. 

As  a  lawyer,  Lincoln  soon  proved  that  the  qualities 
that  had  won  him  the  title  of  Honest  Abe  Lincoln, 
when  he  was  a  store-keeper,  still  stuck  to  him.  He 
was  an  honest  lawyer  ;  he  never  undertook  a  case  of 
doubtful  morality.  If  it  was  a  criminal  whom  he  was 
defending,  and  he  became  convinced  of  the  guilt  of  the 
prisoner,  he  lost  all  heart  in  the  case.  No  fee,  no  ex- 
pectation of  winning  fame  for  his  shrewdness,  would 
induce  him  to  undertake  a  suit  in  which  it  would  be 
necessary  to  resort  to  quibbles  and  nice  little  tricks  to 
win. 

When  he  was  not  yet  twenty-eight  years  old,  he  was 
asked  to  deliver  a  lecture  before  an  association  of 
young  men  in  Springfield.  He  chose  for  his  theme 
"  The  Perpetuation  of  our  Political  Institutions," 
rather  an  ambitious  topic,  one  might  say.  But  it  was 
not  a  crude  effort.  Considering  that  it  was  the  work  of 
a  self-taught  man,  who  had  never  seen  the  inside  of  a 
college,  it  was  remarkable  as  a  piece  of  literary  com- 
position.    It  was  the  address  of  a  thinking  man,  an 


56  Abraham   Lincoln 

ardent  and  devoted  patriot.  Alluding  to  our  Revolu- 
tionary ancestors,  he  said  : 

"  In  history,  we  hope  they  will  be  read  of,  and  re- 
counted so  long  as  the  Bible  shall  be  read.  But  even 
granting  that  they  will,  their  influence  cannot  be  what 
it  heretofore  has  been.  Even  then,  they  cannot  be  so 
universally  known  nor  so  vividl}^  felt  as  they  were  by 
the  generation  just  gone  to  rest.  At  the  close  of  that 
struggle,  nearly  every  adult  male  had  been  a  partici- 
pator in  some  of  its  scenes. 

* '  The  consequence  Vv^as,  that  of  those  scenes,  in  the 
form  of  a  husband,  a  father,  a  son,  or  a  brother,  a  living 
history  was  to  be  found  in  every  family — a  history  bear- 
ing the  indubitable  testimonies  to  its  own  authenticity 
in  the  limbs  mangled,  in  the  scars  of  wounds  received 
in  the  midst  of  the  very  scene  related  ;  a  history,  too, 
that  could  be  read  and  understood  alike  by  all,  the  wise 
and  the  ignorant,  the  learned  and  the  unlearned.  But 
those  histories  are  gone.  They  can  be  read  no  more 
forever.  They  were  a  fortress  of  strength  ;  but  what 
the  invading  foeman  could  never  do,  the  silent  artillery 
of  that  time  has  done — the  levelling  of  its  walls.  They 
are  gone.  They  were  a  forest  of  giant  oaks  ;  but  the 
resistless  hurricane  has  swept  over  them  and  left  only 
here  and  there  a  lonely  trunk  despoiled  of  its  v^erdure, 
shorn  of  its  foliage  ;  unshading  and  unshaded,  to  mur- 
mur in  a  few  more  gentle  breezes  and  to  combat  with 
its  mutilated  limbs  a  few  more  ruder  storms,  then  to 
sink  and  be  no  more." 

A  little  later,  in  1839,  there  was  a  remarkable  debate 
in  the  Illinois  I^egislature,  in  which  the  Democratic 
disputants  were  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  John  Calhoun, 
Josiah  Lamborn,  and  Jesse  B.  Thomas.  The  Whig 
speakers  were  Stephen  T.  I^ogan,  Edward  D.  Baker, 


The  Young  Politician     ^  57 

Orville  H.  Browning,  and  Abraham  I/incoln.  All  of 
these  men  were  conspicuous  figures  in  Illinois  politics, 
and  most  of  them  became  celebrated  throughout  the 
country  in  after  years.  During  the  debate,  one  of  the 
speakers  taunted  the  other  side  with  the  hopelessness 
of  their  cause  and  the  fewness  of  their  numbers.  In 
replying  to  him,  Lincoln  said  :  "  Address  that  argu- 
ment to  cowards  and  knaves.  With  the  free  and  the 
brave  it  will  affect  nothing.  It  may  be  true;  if  it  must, 
let  it.  Many  free  countries  have  lost  their  liberty,  and 
ours  may  lose  hers  ;  but,  if  she  shall,  let  it  be  my 
proudest  plume,  not  .that  I  was  the  last  to  desert,  but 
that  I  never  deserted  her." 

Martin  Van  Buren  was  then  President,  and  all  who 
opposed  his  administration  were  denounced  and  perse- 
cuted with  a  virulence  unknown  in  these  more  liberal 
days.  Alluding  to  this  Lincoln  said  :  **  Bow  to  it  I 
never  will.  Here,  before  heaven,  and  in  the  face  of 
the  world,  I  swear  eternal  fidelity  to  the  just  cause  of 
the  land  of  mj'  life,  my  liberty,  and  my  love.  .  .  . 
The  cause  approved  of  by  our  judgment  and  our  hearts, 
in  disaster,  in  chains,  in  death,  we  never  faltered  in 
defending." 

In  1840,  the  country  was  deeply  stirred  by  the  presi- 
dential campaign  of  that  year.  Martin  Van  Buren  was 
nominated  by  the  Democrats,  and  General  William  H. 
Harrison  by  the  Whigs.  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  presi- 
dential electors  on  the  Harrison  ticket,  and  he  took  a 
lively  interest  in  the  canvass,  making  speeches  and 
going  on  long  expeditions  for  the  sake  of  his  candidate. 
Harrison  lived  in  Ohio,  where  he  had  been  one  of  the 
earlier  pioneers.  The  dwelling  of  the  pioneer,  of 
course,  was  a  log  cabin  ;  his  favorite  drink  was  sup- 
posed to  be  ''hard"  or  sour,  fermented  apple-cider. 


58  Abraham  Lincoln 

In  a  very  short  time,  the  Harrison  campaign  became 
the  *'  I^og-Cabin  and  Hard-Cider"  campaign. 

Even  in  the  staid,  old-fashioned  cities  and  towns  of 
the  Eastern  States,  log  cabins  were  built  for  rallying- 
places.  Barrels  of  hard  cider  were  kept  on  tap,  and, 
instead  of  the  customary  tin  cup  for  drinking  purposes, 
gourds  were  ostentatiously  hung  out.  Coon-skins 
were  nailed  on  the  outer  walls  of  these  sj^mbolic  log 
cabins.  In  some  places,  extravagant  expedients  were 
resorted  to  in  order  to  rouse  public  enthusiasm.  In 
Boston,  for  example,  a  huge  ball  was  made  by  covering 
a  wood  framework,  some  fifty  feet  in  circumference, 
with  painted  cloth  ;  and  on  it  was  the  legend,  ' '  This 
is  the  ball  that  is  rolling  on."  The  novel  device  was 
rolled  through  the  streets  of  the  city,  on  the  occasion  of 
a  log-cabin  parade,  the  big  ball  being  guided  by  ropes 
hitched  to  its  axis.  Campaign  songsters,  flags,  and  all 
sorts  of  inventions  to  stir  up  the  people  were  scattered 
broadcast  all  over  the  country. 

At  a  great  meeting  in  Springfield,  Edward  Baker, 
lyincoln's  close  friend,  was  speaking  in  a  large  room 
next  below  the  floor  on  which  was  I^incoln's  ofiice.  A 
trap-door,  once  used  for  ventilating  purposes,  was  cut 
in  the  ceiling  over  the  spot  where  the  speaker  stood. 
Lincoln  raised  this  slightly  and  listened  to  Baker's 
harangue.  Presently,  Baker,  losing  his  temper,  as- 
sailed the  Democrats  very  hotly,  and,  as  some  of  these 
were  present,  they  made  a  rush  for  the  speaker,  crying: 
"  Pull  him  off  the  platform  !  "  To  their  intense  sur- 
prise, the  trap-door  was  lifted,  and  a  pair  of  large  feet, 
well  known  by  their  proportions,  appeared  ;  then  legs, 
and  finally  a  bod}^,  slid  down,  and  lyincoln  stood  there 
defiantly  by  the  side  of  Baker.  Quieting  the  rising 
tide  by  a  wave  of  his  hand,  lyincoln  said :  ' '  Gentlemen, 


The  Young  Politician  59 

let  us  not  disgrace  the  age  and  country  in  which  we 
live.  This  is  a  laud  where  freedom  of  speech  is  guar- 
anteed. Baker  has  a  right  to  speak,  and  a  right  to 
be  permitted  to  do  so.  I  am  here  to  protect  him,  and 
no  man  shall  take  him  from  this  stand  if  I  can  prevent 
it."  Lincoln  had  sufficient  reputation  for  courage  and 
muscle,  as  well  as  for  fairness,  to  warrant  that  Baker 
should  have  no  further  interruption. 


CHAPTER  VII 

WINNING   HIS   WAY 

WHILE  Lincoln  was  living  in  New  Salem,  he  be- 
came tenderly  attached  to  a  young  lady  of 
that  village,  Miss  Ann  Rutledge.  It  is  not  known 
that  the  pair  were  ever  engaged  to  be  married,  but  it 
is  known  that  a  very  cordial  affection  existed  between 
the  twain.  At  that  time,  Lincoln,  who  was  ever  look- 
ing on  the  dark  and  practical  side  of  life,  was  in  no 
condition  to  marry  ;  he  was  not  onlj^  poor,  but  was 
burdened  with  debts,  and  with  a  very  uncertain  future 
before  him.  It  is  hardly  likely  that  he  would  have 
engaged  himself  to  marry  while  his  prospects  in  life 
were  so  very  dim  and  discouraging.  But  Miss  Rut- 
ledge  died  suddenly,  while  yet  in  the  bloom  of  youth. 
This  sad  event  impressed  Lincoln  with  the  deepest 
melancholy,  and  was  to  him  a  forcible  lesson  in  the 
vanity  of  human  expectations. 

Lincoln  was  never  what  is  called  **  a  lad3^'s  man." 
He  delighted  in  the  society  and  conversation  of  culti- 
vated and  sprightl}^  women  always,  but  he  was  obliged 
to  live  laborious  days,  and  sit  up  far  into  the  night  pur- 
suing his  studies,  his  reading,  his  course  of  thought. 
In  1840,  however,  there  came  to  Springfield  from  Ken- 
tucky his  destin)^  in  the  person  of  Miss  Mary  Todd,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  Todd.     It  was  one  of  her  relatives, 

60 


Winning  his  Way  6i 

John  Todd,  who,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution, 
was  encamped  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Lexington,  Kentucky.  Hearing  from  the  far  East 
the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  he  bestowed  on 
the  settlement  yet  unborn  the  title  it  wears  to  this 
day. 

Mary  Todd  was  courted  and  flattered  by  the  young 
men  of  Springfield,  and  as  the  young  ladies  of  those 
da3^s  were  much  interested  in  politics,  she  soon  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  then  regarded 
as  a  rising  man.  It  will  never  be  known  just  how  a 
matrimonial  engagement  between  Lincoln  and  Miss 
Todd  became  settled  and  then  unsettled.  It  may  be 
sufficient  for  us  to  know  that,  after  the  engagement 
was  fixed,  there  was  a  misunderstanding,  and  Lincoln 
released  the  young  lady  from  the  engagement,  but  that 
she  declined  to  be  released.  Immediately  after,  he  fell 
into  a  state  of  the  most  profound  melancholy.  While 
he  was  in  this  pitiable  plight,  his  friend,  Joshua  F. 
Speed,  returned  to  Kentucky,  taking  Lincoln  with  him. 
There,  in  the  restful  quiet  of  the  Speed  mansion,  Lin- 
coln recovered  his  mental  health  and  vigor,  and  then 
returned  to  Springfield. 

At  that  time  a  well-known  character  in  the  city  was 
James  Shields,  a  brisk  and  hot-headed  young  man  from 
the  County  Tyrone,  Ireland.  Shields  was  an  active 
Democrat,  who  had  lately  been  elected  State  Auditor, 
an  office  of  some  importance,  with  a  good  income  at- 
tached to  it.  Lincoln  anonymously  printed  in  the 
Sa7igamon  Jotirnal  a  witty  letter  purporting  to  come 
from  "  The  Lost  Townships,"  in  which  the  writer,  a 
pretended  widow  with  political  ideas  in  her  head,  be- 
wailed the  hard  times  and  the  evil  results  of  Democratic 
rule.     In  that  letter  some  satirical  allusions  were  made 


62  Abraham  Lincoln 

to  the  heady  young  Democratic  Auditor,  who  was  a 
fair  mark  for  ridicule,  being  of  a  sensitive  and  fiery  dis- 
position. Shields  was  frantic  with  rage.  He  vapored 
through  the  town,  threatening  death  and  destruction 
to  the  unknown  author  of  the  satire. 

The  shot  was  followed  by  another,  in  which  the 
widow  of  '  *  The  Lost  Townships ' '  offered  to  square 
matters  by  marrying  Shields.  These  two  letters,  which 
were  the  talk  of  the  town,  so  tickled  the  fancy  of  Miss 
Todd  and  another  young  lady  that  they  concocted  a 
series  of  lampoons,  verses,  and  skits,  all  of  which,  like 
the  little  barbed  weapons  flung  by  a  bull-fighter,  were 
designed  to  infuriate  the  rearing  and  plunging  Shields. 
In  a  rage,  he  went  to  the  editor  of  the  journal,  and  de- 
manded to  know  the  name  of  the  author  of  these  at- 
tacks. The  editor,  in  great  distress  of  mind,  applied 
to  Lincoln  for  advice.  Shields  would  fight.  The 
editor  would  not  fight.  Lincoln  told  him  to  say  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  responsible  for  the  whole  busi- 
ness from  first  to  last.  Being  so  informed.  Shields 
challenged  Lincoln  to  mortal  combat.  Lincoln 
accepted. 

Shields  was  a  famous  boaster.  He  and  his  friends 
made  great  ado  about  the  coming  duel,  so  that  the 
affair  was  very  widel}^  advertised.  Lincoln,  being  the 
challenged  party,  had  the  choice  of  weapons,  and  he 
chose  "  cavalry  broadswords  of  the  largest  size."  If 
he  had  really  desired  to  hew  down  Shields,  he  might 
have  done  so,  for,  in  his  stout  hands  and  with  his  long 
arms,  he  could  have  mowed  down  any  man  of  ordinary 
build  before  he  could  have  got  near  Lincoln.  But  the 
fight  did  not  come  off.  At  the  last  moment.  Shields 
was  readj^  to  accept  from  Lincoln  the  explanation  that 
the  letters  from  ' '  The  Lost  Townships ' '  were  only 


winning  his  Way  63 

intended  for  political  effect  and  not  to  reflect  on  the  per- 
sonal character  of  Mr.  Shields.  The  quarrel  ended 
without  humiliation  to  Lincoln  except  so  far  as  he  felt 
humbled  by  having  been  drawn  into  a  silly  fracas  in 
which  nobody  could  gain  any  credit.  Lincoln  had 
occasion  during  the  Rebellion  to  reprimand  a  young 
officer  of  the  Army  who  had  been  brought  before  a 
court-martial  for  a  quarrel  with  a  brother  ofificer. 
Possibly,  these  words,  addressed  to  the  culprit,  may 
have  been  suggested  by  his  own  unwelcome  experience: 

*'  The  advice  of  a  father  to  his  son,  *  Beware  of  en- 
trance to  a  quarrel,  but  being  in,  bear  it  that  the  op- 
posed may  beware  of  thee  !  '  is  good,  but  not  the  best. 
Quarrel  not  at  all.  No  man  resolved  to  make  the  most 
of  himself  can  spare  time  for  personal  contention.  Still 
less  can  he  afford  to  take  all  the  consequences,  includ- 
ing the  vitiating  of  his  temper  and  the  loss  of  self-con- 
trol. Yield  larger  things  to  which  you  can  show  no 
more  than  equal  right  ;  and  yield  lesser  ones  though 
clearly  your  own.  Better  give  your  path  to  a  dog 
than  be  bitten  by  him  in  contesting  for  the  right.  Kven 
killing  the  dog  would  not  cure  the  bite." 

But,  out  of  the  Shields  affair,  we  may  understand, 
issued  the  marriage  of  Lincoln  and  Miss  Todd.  The 
young  lady  was  bright,  vivacious,  and  roguish.  Her 
knight  had  shown  his  readiness  to  fight  for  her,  al- 
though, with  genuine  Kentucky  spirit,  she  had  de- 
clared her  own  willingness  to  cross  weapons  with  the 
redoubtable  young  Irishman,  if  need  be.  The  paper 
duel  took  place  late  in  September  ;  the  young  couple 
were  married  November  4,  1840.  The  newly  married 
pair  took  lodgings  in  the  Globe  Tavern,  a  well-known 
and  modest  boarding-place  not  far  from  the  State- 
House.     In  a  letter  written  to  a  friend  about  this  time, 


64  Abraham   Lincoln 

lyincoln  speaks  of  his  happiness  in  the  married  state, 
and  of  his  comforts.  Mrs.  lyincohi's  good  management 
and  thoughtfulness  admirably  supplemented  her  hus- 
band's unworldly  absent-mindedness.  They  were 
always  what  some  people  call  "  an  old-fashioned 
couple,"  content  with  each  other,  a  devoted  husband 
and  wnfe,  to  the  end  of  their  life  together. 

The  log-cabin  campaign  having  terminated  to  Lin- 
coln's satisfaction  in  the  election  of  Harrison,  he  spent 
the  winter  of  his  first  year  of  marriage  verj^  happily, 
as  well  as  very  busily.  Yet  he  found  time  to  write  an 
occasional  newspaper  article  on  the  growing  power  of 
the  political  South,  and,  later  on,  to  compose  and  de- 
liver a  very  excellent  temperance  address.  About  this 
time,  too,  he  wrote  a  lecture  for  a  lyceum,  designed  to 
show  that  there  was  nothing  new  under  the  sun,  that 
everything  that  was  claimed  as  a  new  invention  had 
existed  at  some  period,  possibly  very  remote,  in  the 
histor}^  of  the  world. 

Lincoln  never,  even  to  the  day  of  his  death,  could 
be  persuaded  to  partake  of  spirits  or  wine.  He  set  out 
in  life,  surrounded  by  drunkards  and  moderate  tipplers, 
determined  that  he  would  resist  the  temptation  to 
drink  of  these  insidious  beverages.  He  made  no 
promises,  but,  after  a  few  years  of  manhood  (as  he 
used  to  say),  when  his  associates  had  become  accus- 
tomed to  his  abstemious  habits,  he  had  neither  temp- 
tation nor  desire  to  drink.  Lincoln's  lecture  was 
delivered  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Spring- 
field, February  22,  1842.  In  it  he  refers  to  the  drink- 
ing usages  of  society  in  these  words  : 

*'  Let  us  see.  I  have  not  inquired  at  what  period  of 
time  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  commenced  ;  nor 
is  it  important  to  know.     It  is  suflScient  that  to  all  of 


Winning  his  Way  65 

us  who  now  inhabit  the  world,  the  practice  of  drinking 
them  is  just  as  old  as  the  world  itself — that  is,  we  have 
seen  the  one  just  as  long  as  we  have  seen  the  other. 
When  all  such  of  us  as  have  now  reached  the  years  of 
maturity  first  opened  our  eyes  upon  the  stage  of  exist- 
ence, we  found  intoxicating  liquor  recognized  by  every- 
body, used  by  everybody,  repudiated  by  nobody.  It 
commonly  entered  into  the  first  draught  of  the  infant, 
and  the  last  draught  of  the  dying  man.  From  the  side- 
board of  the  parson  down  to  the  ragged  pocket  of  the 
homeless  loafer,  it  was  constantly  found.  Physicians 
prescribed  it  in  this,  that,  and  the  other  disease;  Govern- 
ment provided  it  for  soldiers  and  sailors  ;  and  to  have  a 
rolling  or  raising,  a  husking  or  *  hoe-down  '  anywhere 
about  without  it  was  positively  insufferable.  So,  too,  it 
was  everywhere  a  respectable  article  of  manufacture  and 
merchandise.  The  making  of  it  was  regarded  as  an 
honorable  livelihood,  and  he  who  could  make  most 
was  the  most  enterprising  and  respectable.  Large  and 
small  manufactories  of  it  were  everywhere  erected,  in 
which  all  the  earthly  goods  of  their  owners  were  in- 
vested. Wagons  drew  it  from  town  to  town  ;  boats 
bore  it  from  clime  to  clime,  and  the  winds  wafted  it 
from  nation  to  nation  ;  and  merchants  bought  and 
sold  it,  by  wholesale  and  retail,  with  precisely  the 
same  feelings,  on  the  part  of  the  seller,  buyer,  and  by- 
stander, as  are  felt  at  the  selling  and  buying  of  ploughs, 
beef,  bacon,  or  any  other  of  the  real  necessities  of  life. 
Universal  public  opinion  not  only  tolerated,  but  recog- 
nized and  adopted  its  use." 

In  June,  1842,  Lincoln  met  the  much-hated  Martin 
Van  Buren,  then  out  of  ofiice.  He  was  accustomed  to 
say  that  it  was  no  wonder  that  Van  Buren's  admirers 
called  him  "  the  little  magician,"   for  Van   Buren's 


66  Abraham  Lincoln 

manners  were  so  aflfable  and  delightful  that ''  lie  could 
charm  the  birds  ofif  the  trees."  But,  if  I^incoln  was 
pleased  with  Van  Buren,  the  ex-President  was  no  less 
gratified  by  his  meeting  with  the  young  Whig  leader 
of  central  Illinois.  Being  weather-bound  at  a  small 
town  not  far  from  Springfield,  the  ex-President  was 
forced  to  remain  overnight.  Some  of  his  Springfield 
friends,  hearing  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  plight,  made  up  a 
party,  and  taking  with  them  some  refreshments,  left 
Springfield  for  the  village  aforementioned.  Knowing 
Lincoln's  good-nature,  as  well  as  his  powers  of  enter- 
taining, they  besought  his  assistance  to  lighten  the 
weary  hours  of  the  ex-President's  stay  at  the  wretched 
inn,  where  he  was  detained.  Lincoln,  always  ready  to 
do  a  good  turn,  went  out  with  the  party,  and  enter- 
tained the  wayfarers  far  into  the  night  with  Western 
anecdotes,  funny  stories,  and  graphic  descriptions  of 
wild  life  on  the  frontier.  Van  Buren,  delighted,  said 
"  the  only  drawback  to  his  enjoyment  was  that  his  sides 
were  sore  for  a  week  thereafter,  from  laughing  at  Lin- 
coln's stories." 

Lincoln  had  long  desired  to  go  to  Congress  ;  but  it 
so  happened  that  his  dearest  friends,  also  Whigs,  were 
equally  anxious  to  go  from  the  Sangamon  district. 
The  district  was  strongly  Whig,  and  a  nomination  was 
almost  an  election.  But  Lincoln,  always  preferring  his 
friend  before  himself,  loyally  supported  each  of  his 
most  intimate  associates,  and  thought  his  to  be  the 
better  claim.  On  one  occasion,  having  been  a  candi- 
date for  the  nomination  to  Congress,  Lincoln  was 
elected  as  a  delegate  to  the  nominating  convention, 
and  was  instructed  to  vote  for  E.  D.  Baker.  Of  this 
predicament  he  good-naturedly  said :  *  *  I  shall  be  fixed 
a  good  deal  like  the  fellow  who  is  made  groomsman  to 


Winning  his  Way  67 

the  man  who  cut  him  out  and  is  marrying  his  girl." 
At  this  time,  1842,  John  J.  Hardin  was  nominated  and 
elected.  He  was  one  of  I^incoln's  truest  friends  ;  he 
was  subsequently  killed  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista, 
during  the  Mexican  War. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  RISING  POI.ITICIAN 

IT  was  said  of  Lincoln  that  he  was  a  born  politician 
and  that,  as  a  political  prophet,  he  made  few  mis- 
takes. But  he  was  deeply  and  overwhelmingly  disap- 
pointed, in  1844,  when  Henry  Clay  was  defeated  for 
the  presidency  by  James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee.  The 
defeat  was  unexpected,  and  its  very  unexpectedness 
made  it  harder  to  bear.  Lincoln  was  accustomed  to 
refer  to  the  defeat  of  Clay  as  one  of  his  keenest  per- 
sonal sorrows. 

It  is  very  likely,  however,  that  the  edge  of  this  grief 
was  made  less  sharp  by  Clay's  own  conduct.  In  1846, 
Lincoln,  learning  that  Clay  w^asto  speak  in  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  made  a  pilgrimage  to  that  place  in  order  to 
hear  the  voice,  grasp  the  hand,  and  look  in  the  mag- 
netic eyes  of  his  adored  leader.  Clay's  speech  was 
on  the  subject  of  colonizing  Africa  with  emancipated 
American  slaves,  an  expedient  then  attracting  much 
attention  as  a  possible  solution  of  the  problem  of 
American  slavery.  Clay's  speech,  on  this  occasion, 
was  written  out  and  was  read  in  a  cold  manner.  Lin- 
coln, who  had  come  so  far  to  hear  what  was  a  very 
commonplace  address,  was  disappointed.  Neverthe- 
less, when  the  meeting  was  dissolved,  he  sought  the 
much-wished-for  introduction  to  Clay,  and  was  invited 

68 


The  Rising  Politician  69 

to  Ashland,  the  seat  of  the  Clay  family.  But  more 
disillusion  was  in  store  for  him.  Clay  was  proud,  dis- 
tant, and  haughty  in  his  manner,  and  he  evidently  re- 
garded Lincoln  as  a  clodhopper,  a  rude  backwoodsman, 
whose  personal  affection  for  "  the  great  Whig  chief" 
must  be  rewarded  by  a  few  curt  words  of  welcome. 
He  was  conceited  in  himself,  impatient  of  suggestions 
or  advice  from  others,  self-sufficient.  Lincoln  was 
humble,  conscious  of  his  own  shortcomings,  and  his 
invariable  habit  was  to  defer  to  others.  Clay  accepted 
the  deference  offered  him  as  his  due,  while  Lincoln  felt 
that  his  hero-worship  was  an  egregious  blunder.  He 
went  back  to  Springfield,  as  he  afterwards  expressed 
it,  '*  with  the  enthusiasm  all  oozed  out  of  him."  The 
man  who  was  to  be  President  had  learned  a  lesson  from 
him  who  never  could  be  President. 

In  1846,  Lincoln  was  nominated  for  Congress,  and 
one  object  of  his  ambition  was  within  reach.  His  com- 
petitor on  the  Democratic  ticket  was  Peter  Cartwright, 
a  backwoods  preacher  and  exhorter,  famous  in  his  time 
for  the  vigor  with  which  he  pursued  every  topic  to 
which  he  addressed  himself.  It  was  thought  that 
Cartwright  would  poll  a  very  much  larger  vote  than 
that  usually  given  to  a  Democratic  candidate  in  the 
district,  and  possibly  might  be  elected.  But  Lincoln 
astonished  his  opponents  by  the  fulness  of  his  vote. 
His  majority  over  Cartwright  was  sixteen  hundred  and 
eleven,  considerably  more  than  any  other  Whig  candi- 
date had  a  right  to  expect. 

When  Lincoln  took  the  * '  stump  ' '  for  himself  in  the 
canvass,  he  had  a  plenty  of  material  for  his  addresses 
to  the  people.  During  the  preceding  winter,  the  new 
State  of  Texas  had  been  admitted  to  the  Union,  a  meas- 
ure to  which  Lincoln,  and  other  Whigs  were  bitterly 


70  Abraham  Lincoln 

opposed.  Texas  had  first  seceded  from  Mexico,  and, 
after  a  sharp  war,  had  gained  something  that  was  akin 
to  independence.  At  least,  the  war  was  temporarily 
suspended,  according  to  Mexican  notions  of  the  position 
of  affairs,  and  the  new  State  proposed  to  join  the  family 
of  the  United  States.  After  various  expedients  had 
been  tried  without  success,  the  Democratic  administra- 
tion finally  did  secure  the  annexation  of  Texas.  This 
was  done  in  order  that  a  new  slave  State  might  be 
added  to  the  Union.  The  increase  of  population  in  the 
North,  so  much  more  rapid  than  it  was  in  the  South, 
made  it  necessar}^  that  something  should  be  done  to 
maintain  the  political  strength  of  the  slave  States. 

The  work  of  achieving  the  independence  of  Texas 
was  accomplished  largely  by  Americans,  and  with  no 
other  purpose  than  to  bring  the  young  republic  into 
the  Union.  The  resulting  war  and  a  reduction  of  the 
tariff,  for  which  the  Democrats  were  responsible,  gave 
the  Whigs  ammunition  for  their  campaign  ;  and  I^in- 
coln  used  it  vigorously  in  his  canvass. 

The  Congress  to  which  Lincoln  was  elected  w^as  the 
Thirtieth,  and  Lincoln  took  his  seat  in  it  December  6, 
1847.  H^  ^^^  very  much  at  home  there,  for  he  had 
then  been  repeatedly  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature, 
had  '*  stumped"  Illinois  from  one  end  to  the  other, 
had  made  a  great  many  public  speeches,  had  met  all 
the  leading  men  of  that  region,  and  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  hold  his  own  in  debate.  He  was  familiar 
with  all  the  great  questions,  had  debated  them  before 
the  people,  and  had  so  studied  the  historj^  of  his  coun- 
try that  he  knew  all  that  had  happened  to  lead  up  to 
the  crisis  in  which  the  republic  then  found  itself — with 
a  foreign  war  on  its  hands  and  a  new  State  in  the  Union 
— the  admission  of  which  a  great  many  public  men,  in 


The  Rising  Politician  71 

and  out  of  Congress,  regarded  as  a  misfortune  to  the 
republic. 

James  K.  Polk  was  President  of  the  United  States. 
Disappointed  that  the  Mexican  question  had  not  been 
disposed  of  before  he  took  ofl&ce,  he  shaped  his  messages 
to  Congress  so  as  to  show  that  the  war  with  Mexico 
was  a  just  one,  and  that  he  had  been  right  in  all  that 
he  had  done  to  make  that  war  inevitable.  lyincoln  saw 
the  inconsistency  of  the  President's  position,  and,  as 
soon  as  he  had  fairly  become  used  to  his  seat,  he  intro- 
duced a  series  of  resolutions  asking  the  President  for 
information.  These  resolutions  were  prefaced  by  a 
clear  statement  of  the  situation,  as  it  appeared  to  him, 
together  with  sundry  extracts  from  the  President's 
messages  of  that  year  and  the  year  next  preceding. 
The  aim  of  these  resolutions  will  be  seen  by  quoting 
the  first  three,  as  follows  : 

''  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  respect- 
fully requested  to  inform  this  house  : 

'*  FirsL  Whether  the  spot  on  which  the  blood  of  our 
citizens  was  shed,  as  in  his  messages  declared,  was  or 
was  not  within  the  territory  of  Spain,  at  least  after  the 
treaty  of  18 19,  until  the  Mexican  revolution. 

'*  Second.  Whether  this  spot  is  or  is  not  within  the 
territory  which  was  wrested  from  Spain  by  the  revo- 
lutionary government  of  Mexico. 

"■  Third.  Whether  that  spot  is  or  is  not  within  a 
settlement  of  people,  which  settlement  has  existed  ever 
since  long  before  the  Texas  revolution  and  until  its  in- 
habitants fled  before  the  approach  of  the  United  States 
army." 

It  was  seen  that  if  the  President's  friends  should 
undertake  to  reply,  and  admit  the  real  facts,  the  posi- 
tion taken  by  Mr.  Polk,  and  those  who  defended  the 


72  Abraham  Lincoln 

war,  would  be  surrendered.  So,  not  being  able  to 
make  answer  to  the  only  Whig  representative  from 
Illinois,  the  tall  backwoods  lawyer,  they  contented 
themselves  with  giving  him  a  nickname.  As  he  had 
used  the  word  * '  spot ' '  several  times  in  the  resolutions 
and  in  his  speech,  he  was  known  for  a  time,  at  least, 
as  '*  Spot  Lincoln."  The  speech  was  a  masterly  one, 
reviewing  the  causes  of  the  Mexican  War  and  severely 
arraigning  the  administration  for  persisting  in  the  an- 
nexation of  Texas,  and  thus  involving  the  country  in 
a  bloody  and  causeless  fight  with  Mexico. 

It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  there  were  many  emi- 
nent men  in  Congress  in  those  days.  In  the  Senate 
were  Daniel  Webster,  Lewis  Cass,  John  A.  Dix,  Thomas 
H.  Benton,  John  C.  Calhoun,  Jefferson  Davis,  Stephen 
Arnold  Douglas,  and  other  well-known  statesmen.  In 
the  House  of  Representatives  were  such  men  as  ex- 
President  John  Quincy  Adams,  Caleb  B.  Smith,  after- 
wards a  member  of  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  John  G.  Palfrey, 
Robert  C.  Winthrop,  Andrew  Johnson,  elected  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States  when  Lincoln  was 
chosen  for  his  second  term  ;  Alexander  H.  Stephens, 
afterwards  Vice-President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy; 
Robert  Toombs,  the  Southern  slave-holder  who  prom- 
ised to  have  his  slaves  mustered  to  roll-call  on  Bunker 
Hill  ;  Howell  Cobb,  afterwards  a  general  in  the  rebel 
army,  and  mau}^  others  famous  in  the  stormy  times 
then  making  ready  in  the  distance.  In  this  illustrious 
company  of  legislators,  Lincoln  was  recognized  as  a 
man  of  marked  ability.  Speaking  of  him,  Alexander 
H.  Stephens  said  : 

*'  He  always  attracted  and  riveted  the  attention  of 
the  House  when  he  spoke.  His  manner  of  speech,  as 
well  as  thought,  was  original.     He  had  no  model.     He 


The  Rising  Politician  '^^ 

was  a  man  of  strong  convictions  and  what  Carlyle 
would  have  called  an  earnest  man.  He  abounded  in 
anecdote.  He  illustrated  every  thing  he  was  talking 
about  with  an  anecdote,  always  exceedingly  apt  and 
pointed  ;  and  socially  he  always  kept  his  company  in  a 
roar  of  laughter. ' ' 

Lincoln  took  part  in  the  debates  of  the  House  rather 
more  frequently  than  most  new  members  do.  Some  of 
his  speeches,  to  be  found  in  the  printed  record  of  Con- 
gress, show  characteristic  touches  of  humor.  Speak- 
ing of  the  attempt  to  make  a  military  hero  of  General 
Lewis  Cass,  who  was  to  be  the  next  Democratic  candi- 
date for  President,  and  who  was  said  to  have  been  an 
important  figure  in  a  small  fight  on  the  Canadian 
border,  Lincoln  said,  with  rough  sarcasm  :  ''  He  in- 
vaded  Canada  without  resistance,  and  he  f7?^/vaded 
without  pursuit.  .  .  .  He  was  volunteer  aid  to  General 
Harrison  on  the  day  of  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  and 
as  you  said  in  1840,  that  Harrison  was  picking  whortle- 
berries, two  miles  off",  while  the  battle  was  fought,  I 
suppose  it  is  a  just  conclusion  with  you  to  say  that 
Cass  was  aiding  Harrison  to  pick  whortleberries." 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Lincoln,  while  he  disapproved 
of  the  Mexican  War, always  voted  to  reward  the  bravery 
of  the  soldiers  who  fought  the  battles  and  who  were 
not  in  any  way  responsible  for  the  war.  Later,  when 
he  and  Douglas  were  holding  a  political  discussion, 
Douglas  reproached  Lincoln  with  being  an  enemy  of 
his  country  during  the  Mexican  War.  Lincoln  replied : 
*'  I  was  an  old  Whig,  and  when  the  Democratic  party 
tried  to  get  me  to  vote  that  the  war  had  been  righteously 
begun  by  the  President,  I  would  not  do  it.  But  when 
they  asked  for  money,  or  land  warrants,  or  any  thing  to 
pay  the  soldiers,  I  gave  the  same  vote  that  Douglas  did. ' ' 


74  Abraham  Lincoln 

If  this  was  true  of  the  Whigs,  the  Democratic  Presi- 
dent was  also  in  great  perplexity.  Speaking  of  the 
President's  struggles  to  set  himself  right  when  he  knew 
that  he  was  wrong  Lincoln  said  :  "  He  knows  not 
where  he  is.  .  .  .  All  this  shows  that  the  President  is 
by  no  means  satisfied  with  his  positions.  First,  he 
takes  up  one,  and,  in  attempting  to  argue  us  into  it,  he 
argues  himself  out  of  it.  Then  he  seizes  another,  and 
goes  through  the  same  process  ;  and  then,  confused  at 
being  able  to  think  of  nothing  new,  he  snatches  up  the 
old  one  again,  which  he  has  some  time  before  cast  off. 
His  mind,  tasked  beyond  its  powers,  is  running  hither 
and  thither,  like  some  tortured  thing  on  a  burning  sur- 
face, finding  no  position  on  which  it  can  settle  down 
and  be  at  ease." 

This  speech  was  made  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives after  Taylor  had  been  nominated  at  Philadelphia 
by  the  Whigs  in  1848.  Clay  had  been  supported  in 
that  convention  as  a  candidate  more  fit  than  Taylor  ; 
but  Taylor  had  won  fame  on  the  field  of  Buena  Vista, 
during  the  Mexican  War,  and  he  had  not  been  in 
favor  of  carrying  that  war  forward  to  the  banks  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  the  disputed  boundary  between  Texas 
and  Mexico.  He  was  urged  in  the  convention  as  the 
most  available  man  for  the  nomination,  and  the  word 
"  availability  "  was  repeated  with  much  scorn  by  Mr. 
Clay's  friends  afterwards.  Lincoln  was  a  delegate  to 
the  convention,  and  he  was  enthusiastically  in  favor  of 
"The  Hero  of  Buena  Vista,"  as  General  Taylor  was 
styled  by  his  admirers. 

General  Taylor's  manners  were  very  blunt,  and  won 
for  him  the  title  of  ' '  Rough  and  Ready, ' '  the  battle- 
cry  of  the  campaign.  Indeed,  the  Whigs  resorted  to 
all  the  tricks  and  devices  that  had  made  the  ''  Log- 


The  Rising  Politician  75 

Cabin  and  Hard-Cider"  campaign  of  Harrison  and 
Tyler  so  successful.  Lincoln,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend, 
written  a  few  daj^s  after  the  Philadelphia  Convention, 
said  that  the  Whigs  would  have  ' '  a  most  overwhelm- 
ing and  glorious  triumph,"  and  he  added  :  *'  One  un- 
mistakable sign  is  that  all  the  odds  and  ends  are  with 
us — Barn-Burners,  Native  Americans,  Tyler  men,  dis- 
appointed office-seeking  Loco-Focos,  and  the  Lord 
knows  what.  This  is  important,  if  in  nothing  else,  in 
showing  which  way  the  wind  blows." 

This  queer  list  of  party  factions  shows  how  parties 
were  then  beginning  to  break  up.  The  Barn-Burners 
were  the  anti-slavery  seceders  from  the  Democratic 
party  in  New  York.  The  Tyler  men  were  those  who 
adhered  to  the  fortunes  and  alleged  principles  of  John 
Tyler,  who,  having  been  elected  Vice-President  with 
General  Harrison  by  the  Whigs,  afterwards  became 
President  by  the  death  of  Harrison,  and  then  went 
over  to  the  Democratic  party,  taking  with  him  a  frac- 
tion of  his  own  party.  In  August  of  that  year,  1848, 
the  New  York  anti-slavery  Democrats  assembled  at 
Buffalo,  New  York,  and  organized  the  Free-Soil  party. 
It  was  pledged,  not  to  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but  to  its 
restriction  to  the  territory  it  already  occupied. 

This  new  party  was  determined  that  the  soil  of  the 
Territories  then  in  existence,  and  thereafter  to  be 
acquired,  should  be  free;  that  there  should  be  no  more 
slave  labor  outside  of  the  States  in  which  slavery  ex- 
isted, and  that  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  should 
have  full  liberty  to  speak  his  sentiments  concerning  any 
topic  before  the  people,  even  concerning  slavery.  The 
battle-cry  of  the  Free  Soilers  in  that  canvass  was  "  Free 
Soil,  Free  Labor,  and  Free  Speech."  They  nominated 
Martin  Van  Buren  for  President  and  Charles  Francis 


76  Abraham  Lincoln 

Adams  for  Vice-President.  The  Free  Soilers  of  that 
day  included  Salmon  P.  Chase,  afterwards  Chief -Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  ;  Charles 
Sumner;  Henry  Wilson,  afterwards  Senator  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  Vice-President  during  Grant's  second 
administration  ;  William  Cullen  Bryant  ;  John  P. 
Hale,  then  and  afterwards  a  Senator  from  New 
Hampshire  ;  and  many  others  who  became  better 
known  as  Republicans,  when  they  had  ceased  to  be 
Free  Soilers. 

The  Democrats,  meantime,  had  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent Lewis  Cass,  a  gentleman  who  had  had  a  slight 
taste  of  war  in  the  skirmish  known  as  the  battle  of  the 
Thames.  As  the  Whig  candidate  was  hurrahed  for  as 
a  militarj^  hero,  the  Democrats  attempted  very  unsuc- 
cessfully to  give  Cass  a  military  reputation.  The 
slavery  question,  on  the  other  hand,  could  no  longer  be 
kept  down,  although  it  had  been  judiciously^  omitted 
from  the  platforms  of  the  Whigs  and  the  Democrats. 
The  Free  Soilers  were  sufi&ciently  outspoken  in  their 
platform,  and  the  speakers  of  the  other  two  parties, 
after  all,  were  obliged  to  say  something  about  the 
great  but  much-dreaded  question.  William  H.  Seward, 
afterwards  Senator  and  Secretary  of  State,  said,  in  a 
speech  supporting  Tajdor's  candidacy:  *'  Freedom  and 
slavery  are  two  antagonistic  elements  of  society  in 
America.  .  .  .  The  party  of  freedom  seeks  complete 
and  universal  emancipation."  Daniel  Webster,  who 
also  supported  Taylor,  insisted  that  the  Whigs  were 
the  real  Free  Soilers.  Lincoln  avowed  himself  to  be 
"  a  Northern  man,  or,  rather,  a  Western  Free-State 
man,  with  a  constituency  I  believe  to  be,  and  with  per- 
sonal feelings  I  know  to  be,  against  the  extension  of 
slavery." 


The  Rising  Politician  ']'] 

The  congressional  recess  began  in  August,  and  lyin- 
coln  went  immediately  to  New  England,  where  he  took 
the  stump  for  Taylor.  His  speeches  were  characterized 
by  their  keenness  of  analysis,  wit,  humor,  and  un- 
answerable logic.  He  was  in  close  communication 
with  the  Whig  leaders  in  Illinois,  and  continually 
wrote  them,  giving  them  advice,  counsel,  and  hints  for 
the  conduct  of  the  campaign.  To  his  partner,  W.  H. 
Herndon,  he  says  :  "  Let  every  one  play  the  part  he 
can  play  best.  Some  can  speak,  some  can  sing,  and 
all  can  halloo."  When  he  had  filled  his  engagements 
in  New  England  and  New  York,  he  returned  at  once 
to  Illinois,  where  he  threw  himself  into  the  canvass 
with  great  fervor,  speaking  day  and  night  until  the 
election,  which  occurred  in  November,  1848. 

When  the  votes  were  counted,  it  was  found  that 
General  Taylor  was  elected,  having  163  electors,  while 
Cass  had  137.  Van  Buren,  not  having  carried  any 
one  State,  had  no  electors.  There  was  general  satis- 
faction all  over  the  North,  for  it  was  felt  that  the  elec- 
tion of  Taylor  would,  somehow,  prevent  the  further 
extension  of  slavery.  In  fact,  although  probably  very 
few  saw  it,  the  triumph  of  the  Whigs,  assisted  by  the 
Free-Soil  party,  was  making  ready  for  the  formation 
of  a  new  party  that  was  to  bring  to  pass  what  none 
then  thought  possible  —  the  abolition  of  slavery.  It 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  votes  cast  for  Van 
Buren  would  have  elected  Cass,  had  they  all  been 
given  to  him  ;  and  the  bulk  of  those  votes  had  come 
out  of  the  Democratic  party. 

When  Congress  reassembled  in  December  of  that 
year,  the  aspect  of  things  was  materially  changed. 
The  Whigs  were  no  longer  in  a  hopeless  minority 
in  the  country,  and  the  Northern   Democrats,  who 


yS  Abraham  Lincoln 

believed  that  they  had  been  sacrificed  in  the  interest  of 
Southern  slaverj^,  were  angry  and  sullen.  One  of 
these,  Mr.  Root,  of  Ohio,  very  soon  caused  a  great 
uproar  by  introducing  a  resolution  in  favor  of  organiz- 
ing the  new  Territories,  California  and  New  Mexico, 
with  constitutions  that  should  exclude  slavery.  The 
Territories  in  question  had  been  acquired  by  the  treaty 
with  Mexico  ;  and  it  had  been  hoped  and  expected  by 
the  South  that  slavery  would  be  extended  there,  as  it 
had  been  in  Texas.  The  resolution,  however,  got  no 
farther  than  the  Senate,  where  it  was  killed  by  the 
slavery  majority. 

In  this,  as  in  all  measures  designed  to  cripple  the 
institution  of  slavery,  lyincoln  voted  with  the  friends 
of  freedom,  although  he  did  not  take  an  active  part  in 
the  debate.  Later  in  the  session,  he  introduced  a  bill 
to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  He 
thought  it  a  shame  and  a  disgrace  that  traflSc  in  slaves 
should  be  carried  on  right  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Capitol.  His  heart  was  stirred  with  indignation  to  see 
gangs  of  slaves,  handcuffed  and  linked  in  chains,  pass- 
ing through  the  streets  of  Washington  on  the  way  to 
the  South. 

His  bill  provided  that  no  person  from  without  the 
District  should  be  held  to  slavery  in  it  ;  and  that  no 
person  hereafter  born  in  the  District  should  be  held  in 
slavery  anywhere.  It  also  provided  for  the  gradual 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  then  in  the  District,  the 
owners  of  the  same  being  paid  for  them  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States.  But  the  bill  was 
framed  so  that  it  might,  if  possible,  pass  Congress, 
not  as  an  expression  of  what  I^incoln  thought  was  j  ust 
and  right  to  the  slave  and  the  slave-holder.  But, 
temperate  though  the  bill  was,  it  excited  a  storm  of 


The  Rising  Politician  79 

opposition.  The  Southern  members  were  determined 
that  no  bill  that  was  calculated  to  weaken  slavery  in  any 
way,  or  to  imply  that  slavery  was  not  everything  that 
was  lovely  and  of  good  report,  should  ever  pass  Con- 
gress, if  they  could  help  it.  Lincoln's  bill  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  never  came  to  a 
vote.  Soon  after,  Congress  adjourned  and  Lincoln, 
his  term  of  office  being  out,  went  home  to  Illinois. 

Lincoln  was  not  a  candidate  for  re-election.  As  his 
was  the  only  Whig  district  in  the  State,  and  was  full 
of  ambitious  and  able  men  who  were  Whigs,  it  had  be- 
come the  custom  of  the  party  to  give  the  office  of  Con- 
gress to  no  man  twice  in  succession.  Edward  D. 
Baker,  Lincoln's  intimate  friend,  had  just  returned 
from  the  Mexican  War,  covered  with  the  honors  he 
had  gained  on  the  battle-field  of  Cerro  Gordo.  He  was 
nominated  and  elected  to  succeed  Lincoln. 

For  the  first  and  last  time  in  his  life,  Lincoln  became 
an  applicant  for  an  appointive  office.  Taylor  was  now 
President,  and,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  time, 
all  the  Democrats  were  to  be  turned  out  of  office  and 
their  places  given  to  Whigs  who  had  done  service  in 
the  campaign.  Lincoln,  with  a  plenty  of  ideas  con- 
cerning public  improvements  and  with  some  experience 
as  a  surve3^or  of  lands,  thought  he  would  like  to  be  the 
Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  a  place  in 
which  he  would  have  charge  of  the  sale  and  distribu- 
tion of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment. To  the  surprise  of  his  friends  and  to  his  own 
great  disappointment,  Lincoln  was  refused  the  office 
he  sought,  but  was  offered  that  of  Governor  of  the 
Territory  of  Oregon.  This  place,  however,  he  de- 
clined. It  was  not  to  his  taste,  and,  moreover,  Mrs. 
Lincoln  was  decidedly  opposed  to  going  to  the  Pacific 


8o  Abraham  Lincoln 

coast.  The  bait  held  out  to  Lincoln  at  that  time  was 
that  Oregon  would  soon  come  into  the  Union  as  a  State 
and  that  he  could  probably  return  as  a  United  States 
Senator.  This  glittering  prospect .  made  him  pause 
until  his  wife's  opposition  determined  him.  It  is  a 
curious  coincidence  that,  when  Lincoln  was  President, 
Edward  D.  Baker  went  to  Oregon  and  was  elected 
United  States  Senator  from  that  State. 

When  Lincoln  returned  to  Springfield  from  Con- 
gress, he  found  his  law  practice  fallen  away  so  that,  to 
use  his  own  expression,  he  had  to  begin  all  over  again. 
But  he  had  gained  reputation  during  his  congressional 
term,  and  he  rebuilt  his  practice  with  ready  skill  and 
untiring  industry.  He  had  bought  a  house  and  lot  in 
Springfield,  and  there  established  himself  and  his  fam- 
ily under  a  roof  of  his  own,  which  he  was  never  to 
leave  until  he  went  to  take  up  his  residence  in  the 
White  House  at  Washington. 

His  was  a  pleasant  and  sunny  home,  where  love  and 
order  reigned.  In  the  society  of  his  children  Lincoln 
took  great  delight.  It  cannot  be  said  that  his  was  a 
stern  rule.  It  was  well-nigh  impossible  for  him  to  ex- 
ercise any  right  of  government  with  his  children. 
They  were  passionately  fond  of  their  father  ;  but  it 
must  be  admitted  that  censorious  visitors  sometimes 
went  away  wondering  why  he  so  "  indulged  "  his  boys. 

His  eldest  son,  Robert  Todd,  had  been  born  in  1843, 
Edward  Baker  in  1846,  William  Wallace  in  1850,  and 
Thomas,  April  4,  1853.  Of  these  Edward  died  in 
infancy  ;  William  died  while  his  father  was  President  ; 
and  Thomas  survived  his  father,  dying  at  the  age  of 
nineteen.  The  eldest,  Robert,  Secretary  of  War  under 
Garfield  and  under  Arthur,  is  the  sole  survivor  of  the 
family. 


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The  Rising  Politician  8i 

As  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Lincoln's  father,  Thomas  Lin- 
coln, was  settled  near  Decatur,  Macon  County,  Illinois, 
where  his  son  Abraham,  assisted  by  Thomas  Hanks, 
had  fenced  in,  with  rails  of  their  own  splitting,  a  small 
section  of  a  new  farm.  After  Abraham  went  out  to 
seek  his  own  fortune,  his  father  moved  several  times, 
never  long  satisfied  to  remain  in  one  place.  He  finally 
settled  in  **  Goose  Nest  Prairie,"  a  small  farming  com- 
munity in  Coles  County,  Illinois,  where  he  remained 
until  his  death,  in  1851,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three. 
Whatever  he  had  thought  of  the  abilities  of  his  son, 
who  had  bothered  him  with  his  youthful  habit  of 
speech-making  and  his  proclivity  to  ''  talking  politics," 
Thomas  Lincoln  lived  to  see  him  one  of  the  best-known 
men  and  leading  lawyers  of  the  State.  As  soon  as  he 
could  spare  anything  from  his  own  earnings,  after  his 
load  of  debt  was  lifted,  Lincoln  helped  his  parents  con- 
tinually. He  bought  lands  for  them,  sent  them  good 
gifts,  and  in  many  ways  showed  his  filial  affection  to 
the  end  of  their  stay  on  earth. 

There  were  other  members  of  the  Lincoln  family  not 
holding  so  strong  a  claim  on  Abraham's  generosity 
that  were  helped  by  the  warm-hearted  man.  John 
Johnston,  Abraham's  stepbrother,  appears  to  have 
been  an  unthrifty  and  easy-going  person  who  needed  a 
lift,  and  got  it,  now  and  again,  from  the  frugal  and 
not  over-rich  Springfield  lawyer.  In  a  letter  to  John, 
written  about  the  time  when  he  returned  from  Con- 
gress, Lincoln  said  : 

*'  At  the  various  times  when  I  have  helped  you  a 
little,  you  have  said  to  me,  *  We  can  get  along  very 
well  now,'  but  in  a  short  time  I  find  you  in  the  same 
difiiculty  again." 

In  the  most  friendly  and  affectionate  way  he  went  on 

6 


82  Abraham  Lincoln 

to  show  how  the  difficult}^  was  in  his  unwillingness  to 
work  for  small  pa}^  work  for  small  things,  work  for 
what  could  be  got  then,  rather  than  wait  for  something 
better  to  turn  up.  Later,  in  November,  1851,  Lincoln 
wrote  to  John  as  follows  : 

"  Dear  Brother  :  When  I  came  into  Charleston, 
day  before  yesterday,  I  learned  that  you  are  anxious 
to  sell  the  land  where  you  live  and  move  to  Missouri. 
I  have  been  thinking  of  this  ever  since,  and  cannot  but 
think  such  a  notion  is  utterly  foolish.  What  can  you 
do  in  Missouri  better  than  here  ?  Is  the  land  any 
richer  ?  Can  you  there,  any  more  than  here,  raise 
corn  and  wheat  and  oats  without  work  ?  Will  any- 
body there,  any  more  than  here,  do  your  work  for 
you  ?  If  you  intend  to  go  to  work,  there  is  no  better 
place  than  right  where  you  are  ;  if  you  do  not  intend 
to  go  to  work,  you  cannot  get  along  anj^where.  Squirm- 
ing and  crawling  about  from  place  to  place  can  do  no 
good.  You  have  raised  no  crop  this  year,  and  what 
you  really  want  is  to  sell  the  land,  get  the  money,  and 
spend  it.  Part  with  the  land  you  have,  and,  my  life 
upon  it,  you  will  never  after  own  a  spot  big  enough  to 
bury  you  in.  Half  you  will  get  for  the  land  j-ou  will 
spend  in  moving  to  Missouri,  and  the  other  half  you  will 
eat  and  drink  and  wear  out,  and  no  foot  of  land  will  be 
bought.  Now,  I  feel  it  is  my  duty  to  have  no  hand  in 
such  a  piece  of  foolery.  I  feel  that  it  is  so  even  on  your 
own  account,  and  particularly  on  mother's  account. 
The  eastern  forty  acres  I  intend  to  keep  for  mother 
while  she  lives.  If  you  will  not  cultivate  it,  it  will 
rent  for  enough  to  support  her  ;  at  least  it  will  rent  for 
something.  Her  dower  in  the  other  two  forties  she  can 
let  you  have,  and  no  thanks  to  me.  Now,  do  not 
misunderstand   this  letter.     I  do  not  write  it  in  any 


The  Rising  .Politician  83 

utikindness.  I  write  it  in  order,  if  possible,  to  get  you  to 
face  the  truth,  which  truth  is,  you  are  destitute  because 
you  have  idled  away  all  your  time.  Your  thousand 
pretences  deceive  nobody  but  yourself.  Go  to  work, 
is  the  only  cure  for  your  case." 

This  letter  to  his  stepbrother  shows  lyincoln  to  have 
been  independent,  self-reliant,  and  disposed  to  make 
his  own  way  in  the  world.  lyincoln  had  repeatedly 
assisted  this  same  stepbrother  ;  and  this  letter  gives 
touching  evidence  of  his  care  and  anxiety  for  his  step- 
mother. They  were  a  charge  upon  his  generosity  and 
affection,  just  as  though  they  were  of  the  same  blood. 
Brought  up  in  a  hard  school,  Lincoln  was  early  taught 
many  practical  lessons  in  frugality  and  economy,  and 
the  only  possession  he  ever  had  that  was  not  gained  by 
vSheer  hard  work  was  a  tract  of  wild  land  in  Iowa,  given 
to  him  by  the  United  States  Government  (as  it  was  to 
each  volunteer),  for  his  services  in  the  Black  Hawk 
War. 


CHAPTER  IX 

I.INCOI.N   THK   LAWYKR 

NO  man  other  than  Lincoln  ever  made  so  many  con- 
cessions to  his  opponents  in  a  discussion  and 
yet  succeeded  in  convincing  his  hearers,  whether  a 
jury  in  a  law-case  or  an  audience  of  the  people  in  a 
political  canvass.  Sometimes,  those  who  were  with 
him  but  did  not,  perhaps,  understand  his  methods, 
were  dismayed  as  the}^  heard  him  give  away  point 
after  point  in  the  case  that  he  presented.  Their  sur- 
prise, therefore,  was  very  great  when  he  began  to  sum 
up  and,  by  the  force  of  his  reasoning,  won  his  suit. 
This  was  because  he  knew  his  case  thoroughly  ;  he  did 
not  wait  until  its  weak  points  were  disclosed  by  the 
speaker  on  the  other  side.  It  was  the  natural  habit  of 
his  mind  to  look  at  the  objections  that  might  be  found 
against  any  given  course.  He  considered  diflSculties  in 
order  that  he  might  be  prepared  for  failure  and  dis- 
appointment. He  never  forgot  the  advice  of  Captain 
Davy  Crockett  :  ''Be  sure  you  are  right,  then  go 
ahead." 

Honest  himself,  he  was  intolerant  of  dishonesty  in 
others.  A  good  instance  of  this  was  shown  in  the  suit 
brought  by  an  old  man  named  Case  against  '*  the 
Snow  boj^s ' '  to  recover  the  amount  of  a  note  given  by 
them  for  three  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  **  breaking  plough." 

84 


Lincoln  the  Lawyer  85 

They  had  bought  the  team  and  had  given  their  note 
for  the  amount  of  the  purchase-money,  and,  being  un- 
able to  pay  when  the  note  became  due,  they  were  sued 
for  the  money.  Their  counsel  appeared  in  court  and 
set  up  the  plea  that  the  defendants  were  not  of  age 
when  the  note  was  given,  and  were,  therefore,  in  law, 
incompetent  to  make  a  contract,  and  that  the  note 
was  void. 

As  counsel  for  Case,  I^incoln  produced  in  court  the 
note  signed  by  the  Snow  boys.  It  was  admitted  that 
the  note  was  given  in  payment  for  the  plough  and 
oxen.  Then  the  defendants'  counsel  offered  to  prove 
that  they  were  under  age  when  thej^  signed  the  note. 

'*  Yes,"  said  Lincoln,  "  I  guess  we  will  admit  that." 

'*  Is  there  a  count  in  the  declaration  for  oxen  and 
plough  sold  and  delivered  ?  "  asked  the  justice. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lincoln  ;  ''  and  I  have  only  one  or  two 
questions  to  ask  of  the  witness  who  has  been  called  b}^ 
the  defendants'  counsel  to  prove  the  age  of  his  clients." 
Where  is  that  prairie  team  now  ?  "  asked  Lincoln. 
On  the  farm  of  the  Snow  bo3"s.'" 
Have  you  seen  any  one  breaking  prairie  with  it 
lately?" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  witness,  "  the  boys  were  breaking 
up  with  it  yesterday." 

How  old  are  the  boj^s  now  ?  " 
One  is  a  little  over  twenty-one,  and  the  other  is 
near  twenty-three." 

"  That  is  all,"  said  Lincoln. 

*'  Gentlemen,"  vSaid  Lincoln  to  the  jury  ;  *'  these 
boys  never  would  have  tried  to  cheat  old  Farmer  Case 
out  of  these  oxen  and  that  plough  but  for  the  advice 
of  counsel.  It  was  bad  advice,  bad  in  morals,  bad  in 
law.     The  law  never  sanctions  cheating,  and  a  lawyer 


( < 
<  ( 
<< 


( < 
<< 


86  Abraham  Lincoln 

must  be  very  smart  indeed  to  twist  it  so  that  it  will 
seem  to  do  so.  The  judge  will  tell  you,  what  your 
own  sense  of  j  ustice  has  already  told  you,  that  these 
Snow  boys,  if  they  were  mean  enough  to  plead  the 
baby  act,  when  they  came  to  be  men  would  have  taken 
the  plough  and  oxen  back.  They  cannot  go  back  on 
their  contract  and  also  keep  what  the  note  was  given 
for.'^ 

Without  leaving  their  seats,  the  jury  gave  a  verdict 
for  old  Farmer  Case. 

A  more  celebrated  case  was  that  which  Lincoln  tried 
in  1 841,  and  was  known  as  that  of  Bailey  vs.  Cromwell. 
A  negro  girl  named  Nancy  had  been  sold,  as  a  slave, 
by  Cromwell  to  Bailey,  and  a  promissor}^  note  taken  in 
payment.  The  note  was  not  paid  when  it  became  due, 
and  suit  was  brought  in  the  Tazewell  County  Court, 
Illinois,  to  recover  the  amount.  The  case  was  then 
taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  Lincoln 
appeared  for  the  maker  of  the  note,  Bailey.  He  argued 
that  the  girl  could  not  be  held  in  slavery,  since,  under 
what  was  known  as  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  slavery 
was  prohibited  in  the  Northwest  Territorj^  of  which 
Illinois  was  a  part,  as  well  as  by  the  constitution  of 
that  State,  which  expressly  prohibited  slavery.  He 
insisted  that,  as  the  consideration  for  which  the  note 
was  given  was  a  human  being,  and,  under  the  laws  of 
Illinois,  a  human  being  could  not  be  bought  and  sold, 
the  note  was  void.  The  court  reversed  the  decision 
of  the  lower  court,  and  the  note  was  thus  declared 
void,  as  Lincoln  had  alleged  that  it  was. 

Another  slave  case  in  which  Lincoln  w^as  concerned 
was  that  of  an  old  slave  woman  living  near  Springfield. 
She  had  been  born  in  slavery  in  Kentucky,  and,  with 
her  children,  had  passed  into  the  possession  of  a  man 


Lincoln  the  Lawyer  87 

named  Hinkle.  Hinkle  had  moved  into  Illinois,  bring- 
ing his  slaves  with  him  ;  but,  as  he  could  not  hold 
them  there,  he  had  given  them  their  freedom.  In 
course  of  time,  a  son  of  the  woman  had  hired  himself 
as  a  cabin  waiter  on  a  steamboat  and  had  voyaged 
down  the  Mississippi.  At  New  Orleans  the  boy  had 
gone  ashore,  forgetting,  or  not  knowing,  that  he  was 
liable  to  arrest.  In  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the 
times,  he  was  seized  by  the  police  and  locked  up,  the 
rules  of  the  city  requiring  that  any  colored  person 
found  at  large,  after  nightfall,  without  a  written  pass 
from  his  owner,  should  be  confined  in  the  "  calaboose." 
Meanwhile  the  steamboat  had  left,  and  the  boy  was 
liable  to  be  sold  into  slavery  to  pay  his  fine. 

Word  was  sent  to  the  boy's  mother,  in  Illinois.  In 
her  distress  she  appealed  to  Lincoln,  and  roused  his 
interest.  The  Governor,  when  applied  to,  regretted 
that  there  was  no  legal  remedy  provided  for  such  a 
state  of  facts.  He  could  do  nothing.  Lincoln  rose  to 
his  feet,  in  great  excitement,  and  said  :  *'  By  the  Al- 
mighty !  I  '11  have  that  negro  back  soon,  or  I  '11  have  a 
twenty-years'  excitement  in  Illinois  until  the  Governor 
does  have  a  legal  and  constitutional  right  to  do  some- 
thing in  the  premises  !  "  The  twenty-years'  excite- 
ment came  in  due  time,  but,  meanwhile,  Lincoln  and 
his  partner,  Herndon,  sent  money  of  their  own  to  New 
Orleans  to  pay  the  fine  and  other  expenses  of  the  boy, 
and  brought  him  home  to  his  grateful  mother. 

It  is  related  of  Edward  D.  Baker,  Lincoln's  friend 
and  comrade,  that  being  once  asked  to  undertake  a  suit 
in  which  the  rights  of  a  fugitive  slave  were  involved, 
he  said  that,  as  a  public  man  and  a  politician,  he  did 
not  dare  to  take  it.  An  anti-slavery  friend  of  the  man 
who  was  in  trouble  was  next  applied  to  for  advice,  and 


88  Abraham   Lincoln 

he  said  :  *'  Go  to  Lincoln.  He  's  not  afraid  of  an  un- 
popular case.  When  I  go  for  a  lawyer  to  defend  an 
arrested  fugitive  slave,  other  lawyers  will  refuse  me, 
but  if  Lincoln  is  at  home  he  will  always  take  my  case." 

The  reader  will  remember  that  the  leader  of  ' '  the 
Clary's  Grove  boys,"  Jack  Armstrong,  became  Lin- 
coln's steadfast  friend  and  ally,  after  the  tussle  between 
him  and  young  Lincoln,  in  Salem.  When  Jack  Arm- 
strong was  married,  and  had  become  a  steady-going 
householder,  his  home  was  always  open  to  the  welcome 
visits  of  his  old  friend.  Here,  when  lack  of  employ- 
ment cast  him  down,  Lincoln  found  a  harbor  of  rest 
and  refuge.  It  was  in  Mrs.  Jack  Armstrong's  house 
that  a  chance  visitor  first  saw  Lincoln,  prone  on  a 
trundle-bed,  rocking  a  cradle  with  one  foot  while  he 
read  aloud.  And  in  later  years,  when  Jack  Armstrong 
was  dead  and  his  boy  had  grown  to  man's  estate,  his 
mother  came  to  Lincoln  in  great  trouble.  Her  son, 
William  D.  Armstrong,  had  been  arrested  for  murder. 
Lincoln  knew  nothing  of  the  case,  but  he  undertook  it, 
and,  after  looking  into  the  facts,  he  became  assured 
that  the  lad  was  innocent. 

It  appeared  that  young  Armstrong,  in  company  with 
some  of  his  mates,  had  visited  a  camp-meeting  and  had 
become  involved  in  a  quarrel.  The  difficulty  was  pro- 
longed into  the  night,  and,  in  the  course  of  the  fracas, 
a  mortal  blow  was  dealt  to  a  young  man.  The  evi- 
dence against  the  prisoner  was  chiefly  circumstantial, 
except  that  one  witness  did  swear  that  he  saw  the  pris- 
oner inflict  the  fatal  blow  with  a  slung-shot. 

Lincoln  surprised  everybody  by  his  calm,  merciless, 
and  destructive  analysis  of  the  evidence,  which,  to 
him,  looked  like  a  conspiracy  against  young  Arm- 
strong.   But  when  he  came  to  the  evidence  of  the  man 


Lincoln  the   Lawyer  89 

who  had  made  oath  that  he  beheld  the  blow  delivered 
by  the  light  of  the  brightly  shining  moon,  he  produced 
an  almanac  and  showed  that  on  the  night  in  question 
there  was  no  moon  at  all  I  The  climax  was  reached, 
and  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  "  Not  guilty." 

The  widow  had  not  been  able  to  endure  the  suspense 
in  court,  and  had  gone  out  to  weep  and  pray  alone. 
Before  the  sun  went  down,  a  messenger  came  running 
to  her  with  the  glad  tidings  :  "  Bill  is  free  ;  your  son 
is  cleared."  For  this  inestimable  service  I^incoln 
would  take  no  fee. 

An  eminent  judge  said  of  Lincoln  :  ''  I  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  saying  that  he  was  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers 
I  have  ever  known."  And,  speaking  of  his  personal 
appearance  and  manner  at  the  bar,  the  judge  said  : 
"  With  a  voice  by  no  means  pleasant,  and,  indeed, 
when  excited,  in  its  shrill  tones  sometimes  almost  dis- 
agreeable ;  without  any  of  the  personal  graces  of  the 
orator  ;  without  much  in  the  outward  man  indicating 
superiority  of  intellect ;  without  great  quickness  of 
perception, —  still,  his  mind  was  so  vigorous,  his  com- 
prehension so  exact  and  clear,  and  his  judgment  so 
sure,  that  he  easily  mastered  the  intricacies  of  his  pro- 
fession, and  became  one  of  the  ablest  reasoners  and 
most  impressive  speakers  at  our  bar.  .  .  .  He  always 
tried  a  case  fairly  and  honestly.  He  never  intention- 
ally misrepresented  the  evidence  of  a  witness  or  the 
argument  of  an  opponent.  He  met  them  squarely, 
and  if  he  could  not  explain  the  one  or  answer  the 
other,  substantially  admitted  it.  He  never  misstated 
the  law  according  to  his  own  intelligent  view  of  it." 


CHAPTER  X 

A   GRKAT   AWAKENING 

IN  1850  it  seemed  to  most  men  that  human  slavery 
was  forever  fixed  in  this  country.  Congress  had 
passed  a  series  of  measures  that  were  supposed  to 
settle  everything,  but  which  satisfied  neither  the  slave 
States  nor  the  free  States.  Mr.  W.  H.  Herndon  relates 
that  as  he  and  Lincoln  were  wayfaring  together  that 
year  Lincoln  gloomily  said  :  ''  How  hard,  ah,  how 
hard  it  is  to  die  and  leave  one's  country  no  better  than 
if  one  had  never  lived  in  it  !  The  world  is  dead  to 
hope,  deaf  to  its  own  death-struggle,  made  known  by 
a  universal  cry.  What  is  to  be  done  ?  Is  anything 
to  be  done  ?  Who  can  do  anything  ?  And  how  is  it 
to  be  done  ?     Do  you  ever  think  of  these  things  ?  " 

In  that  3^ear  Thomas  Lincoln  died.  Burdened  with 
many  cares,  Lincoln  could  not  go  to  see  his  father,  who 
was  reported  to  him  as  very  low  in  health.  To  the 
ill-faring  stepbrother,  John  Johnston,  Lincoln  wrote 
while  his  father  was  yet  alive  : 

"  I  sincerely  hope  that  father  may  yet  recover  his 
health  ;  but,  at  all  events,  tell  him  to  remember  to  call 
upon  and  confide  in  our  good  and  great  merciful  Father 
and  Maker,  who  will  not  turn  away  from  him  in  any 
extremity.  He  notes  the  fall  of  the  sparrow,  and  num- 
bers the  hairs  of  our  heads  ;  and  he  will  not  forget  the 
dying  man  who  puts  his  trust  in  him.     Say  to  him 

90 


A  Great  Awakening  91 

that,  if  we  could  meet  now,  it  is  doubtful  whether  it 
would  not  be  more  paiuful  than  pleasant,  but  that  if  it 
be  his  lot  to  go  now,  he  will  soon  have  a  joyful  meeting 
with  the  loved  ones  gone  before,  and  where  the  rest  of 
us,  through  the  mercy  of  God,  hope  erelong  to  join 
them." 

In  1852  Lincoln  accepted  the  place  of  elector  on  the 
Whig  ticket  in  his  State.  As  he  was  wont  to  say,  he 
was  "  a  standing  candidate  for  Whig  elector,  but  sel- 
dom elected  anybody."  He  took  small  part  in  a 
campaign  in  which  he  could  have  had  no  heart.  His 
party's  platform  had  closed  his  mouth  on  the  only  sub- 
ject on  which  he  felt  very  deeply.  In  fact,  the  whole 
country  seemed  to  be  waiting  in  dumb  silence  as  if 
anticipating  the  storm  that  was  brewing.  This  time, 
as  was  expected,  the  Whig  candidate  was  defeated,  and 
the  Democratic  nominee,  Franklin  Pierce,  was  chosen. 

In  1854  came  the  great  awakening.  Once  more  the 
battle  was  to  be  fought  between  slavery  and  freedom. 
By  the  Ordinance  of  1787  slavery  was  forever  forbidden 
in  the  region  north  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  that  stream 
was  felt  to  be  the  natural  boundary  for  it.  Not  until 
1820  did  such  a  dividing  line  become  necessary  in  the 
new  country  beyond  the  Mississippi.  When  the  State 
of  Missouri,  jutting  north  nearly  its  whole  length  into 
the  latitude  of  the  free  States,  wished  to  join  the  Union 
as  a  slave  State,  it  met  much  opposition.  By  the  Com- 
promise of  1820,  under  which  Missouri  came  in  as  a 
slave  State,  it  was  definitely  agreed  that  all  the  land 
to  the  west  and  north  of  that  State  should  be  free  from 
slavery. 

In  1854  the  new  Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
were  knocking  at  the  door  for  admittance.  As  these 
lay  to  the  west  of  Missouri  they  were  included  in 


92  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  prohibition  of  slavery.  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas, 
Senator  from  Illinois,  introduced  in  the  Senate  a  bill 
organizing  the  two  Territories,  and  leaving  the  question 
of  slavery  to  be  settled  by  the  voters  of  the  region. 
This  was  a  repeal  of  the  much-vaunted  Missouri  Com- 
promise, which  positively  prohibited  slavery  in  those 
Territories. 

Words  can  but  feebly  describe  the  excitement  that 
this  bold  and  unexpected  concession  to  the  slave  States 
created  throughout  the  North.  To  repeal  the  Missouri 
Compromise  now  would  be  to  remove  the  one  existing 
barrier  that  pent  the  flood  of  slavery  in  its  present 
limits,  and  throw  open  to  it  an  area  as  great  as  that 
covered  by  the  thirteen  original  States.  Amidst  the 
most  intense  excitement,  Douglas's  bill  was  finally 
passed  through  Congress  on  the  8th  of  May,  1854. 
The  event  was  celebrated  by  the  booming  of  an  artil- 
lery salute  fired  on  Capitol  Hill,  Washington.  That 
boom  was  the  death-knell  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States. 

Instantly  the  whole  North  was  aflame.  Douglas  was 
everywhere  denounced,  for  it  was  generally  believed 
that  his  course  had  been  prompted  by  a  desire  to  gain 
the  support  of  the  slave  States  in  his  plans  to  be  elected 
President  of  the  Republic.  With  wonderful  skill  and 
audacity  he  defended  himself,  insisting  that  the  pop- 
ular will  should  be  sovereign,  and  that  that  will  should 
determine  whether  slavery  or  freedom  should  rule  in 
each  community.  As  the  settlers  in  a  Territory  were 
called  "squatters,"  the  friends  of  Douglas  invented 
the  phrase  "  squatter  sovereignty." 

Then  began  a  race  to  take  possession  of  the  new  Ter- 
ritory. From  the  Northern  States  went  large  numbers 
of  people  bent  on  being  early  on  the  ground  to  occupy 


A  Great  Awakening  93 

the  soil  for  freedom ;  and  from  the  slave  States  migrated 
others  equally  resolved  to  secure  the  young  Territory 
for  the  dominion  of  slavery.  Kansas,  being  readiest 
of  access,  received  the  full  volume  of  the  wave  of  immi- 
gration. The  free-State  men  moved  from  the  Western 
States  nearest  ;  northern  Illinois  and  Iowa  more  espe- 
cially contributing  companies  of  actual  settlers.  But 
even  in  far-off  New  England  organizations  were  formed 
to  assist  those  who  would  go  to  help  swell  the  free 
population  of  Kansas.  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  how- 
ever, both  slave  States,  and  both  having  a  large  float- 
ing population,  had  the  advantage  which  their  position 
gave  them  ;  and  their  people,  fired  with  a  determina- 
tion to  save  the  Territory  for  slavery,  swarmed  over  the 
border.  These  movements,  which  began  almost  as 
soon  as  the  bill  passed  Congress,  occupied  the  summer 
of  that  year.  Before  three  months  had  passed  ' '  free- 
State  men  ' '  and  ' '  pro-slavery  men  ' '  had  become 
familiar  words  all  over  the  West. 

Congress  adjourned  in  August,  and  the  great  chiefs 
hurried  home,  astonished  by  the  angry  roar  that  came 
up  from  the  people  of  the  North.  Douglas  hastened  to 
Illinois,  confident  that,  with  his  crafty  logic  and  auda- 
cious declamation,  he  could  convince  the  people  that 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  did  not  contain  the  per- 
nicious and  destructive  influences  that  they  believed  it 
did.  In  Chicago,  where  he  first  tarried,  his  constitu- 
ents refused  to  hear  him,  and  placarded  the  walls  with 
hostile  words  against  him. 

When  the  time  for  the  great  agricultural  fair  of  the 
State  drew  near,  it  was  noised  abroad  that  Douglas 
was  to  speak  there  to  the  people  in  justification  of  his 
course.  By  common  consent,  all  eyes  were  turned  to 
Lincoln  as  the  speaker  best  qualified  to  answer  the 


94  Abraham  Lincoln 

plausible  and  overbearing  Senator  from  Illinois.  The 
day  came,  and,  amidst  an  excitement  that  only  those 
who  witnessed  this  great  conflict  between  the  two  in- 
tellectual giants  of  the  West  can  fully  understand, 
Douglas  began  his  defence.  He  was  the  Democratic 
leader  of  the  West,  the  acknowledged  head  of  his 
party  in  the  North,  and  this  was  to  be  his  supreme 
effort.  Douglas's  statement  that  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  was  made  in  the  interest  of  the 
whole  people  and  not  in  the  interest  of  slavery  was  in- 
genious, plausible,  and  as  effective  as  it  could  have 
been  in  the  hands  of  any  living  man.  That  the  attempt 
was  vain  was  owing  to  the  immovable  fact  that  the 
repeal  did  open  to  slavery  Territories  that  had  been 
closed  against  it. 

On  the  next  day  I^incoln  replied  to  Douglas.  All 
accounts  agree  in  saying  that  his  was  a  wonderful  and 
a  memorable  speech.  With  his  customary  fairness,  he 
said  that  he  did  not  wish  to  present  anything  but 
the  truth,  and  that  if  Mr.  Douglas,  who  was  present, 
should  detect  him  in  making  any  error,  he  would  be 
glad  to  be  corrected  on  the  spot.  Douglas  used  this 
opportunity  to  interrupt  I^incoln  frequently  and  to 
ask  him  impertinent  questions.  Finally  Lincoln  lost 
patience,  and  said  :  '*  Gentlemen,  I  cannot  afford  to 
spend  my  time  in  quibbles.  I  take  the  responsibility 
of  asserting  the  truth  myself,  relieving  Judge  Douglas 
from  the  necessity  of  his  impertinent  corrections. ' ' 

At  last  the  lion  had  been  roused.  Stung  by  the  pre- 
tended contempt,  as  well  as  by  the  dishonest  course  of 
Douglas  towards  him,  I^incoln  rose  to  the  occasion  and 
spoke  as  he  never  spoke  before. 

"  Lincoln  quivered  with  feeling  and  emotion.  The 
whole  house  was  as  still  as  death.     He  attacked  the 


A  Great  Awakening  95 

bill  with  unusual  warmth  and  energy.  All  felt  that 
a  man  of  strength  was  its  enemy,  and  that  he  meant  to 
blast  it,  if  he  could,  by  strong  and  manly  ejBforts.  He 
was  most  successful ;  and  the  house  approved  the  glori- 
ous triumph  of  truth  by  loud  and  long-continued 
huzzas.  Women  waved  their  white  handkerchiefs  in 
token  of  woman's  silent  but  heartfelt  consent.  .  .  . 
Mr.  Lincoln  exhibited  Douglas  in  all  the  attitudes  in 
which  he  could  be  placed  in  a  friendly  debate.  He  ex- 
hibited the  bill  in  all  its  aspects  to  show  its  humbug- 
gery  and  falsehoods,  and  when  it  was  thus  torn  to  rags, 
cut  into  slips,  and  held  up  to  the  gaze  of  the  vast 
crowd,  a  kind  of  scorn  was  visible  upon  the  face  of  the 
crowd,  and  upon  the  lips  of  the  most  eloquent  speaker. 
.  .  .  At  the  conclusion  of  the  speech,  every  man 
felt  that  it  was  unanswerable — that  no  human  power 
could  overthrow  it  or  trample  it  under  foot.  The  long 
and  repeated  applause  evinced  the  feelings  of  the  crowd, 
and  gave  token,  too,  of  the  universal  assent  to  Lincoln's 
whole  argument  ;  and  every  mind  present  did  homage 
to  the  man  who  took  captive  the  heart,  and  broke  like 
a  sun  over  the  understanding."  ' 

It  was  in  the  course  of  this  famous  address  that 
Lincoln  uttered  a  pithy  saying  which  has  since  been 
identified  with  his  name.  Douglas  dwelt  long  and 
ingeniously  on  his  favorite  doctrine  that  the  right  to 
introduce  human  slavery  into  a  Territory  or  com- 
munity, by  vote  of  the  people,  was  acknowledgment 
of  the  right  of  popular  sovereignty.  He  insisted  that 
it  was  an  insult  to  the  emigrants  to  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska to  intimate  that  they  were  not  able  to  govern 
themselves,  voting  slavery  in,  or  out,  as  they  chose. 
Replying  to  this  Lincoln  said  :  '*  I  admit  that  the  emi- 
'  The  Springfield  Journal  of  the  following  day. 


cj6  Abraham  Lincoln 

grant  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  is  competent  to  govern 
himself  ;  but  "  — and  here  the  speaker  rose  to  his  full 
and  towering  height  —  '*  I  deny  his  right  to  govern 
any  other  person  without  that  person's  consent." 

At  the  close  of  Lincoln's  speech  Douglas  felt  that  he 
was  crushed.  Excited,  angry,  and  with  lowering 
brows,  he  took  the  platform  and  said  that  he  had  been 
abused.  Then,  as  if  seeing  that  the  vast  audience 
before  him  would  detect  the  misstatement,  for  they 
had  paid  close  attention  to  all  that  had  been  said,  he 
added,  ''  but  in  a  perfectly  courteous  manner."  He 
then  attempted  to  make  some  reply  to  Lincoln's  mas- 
terly and  unanswerable  speech.  He  faltered,  then 
plucked  up  enough  bravado  to  say  that  he  would  con- 
tinue his  address  in  the  evening.  When  evening 
came,  Douglas  was  not  there,  and  the  remarks  prom- 
ised were  never  made. 

Lincoln  had  agreed  to  speak  in  Peoria,  Illinois,  on 
Monday,  October  i6th.  Thither  Douglas  followed 
him,  as  if  determined  to  see  his  own  annihilation. 
Douglas  spoke  for  three  hours  in  the  afternoon,  and 
Lincoln  followed  in  the  evening,  speaking  three  hours 
also.  The  result  was  the  same  as  at  Springfield.  Lin- 
coln's speech  was  materially  different,  but  it  was,  as 
subsequently  written  out  by  him,  more  skilful  and 
elaborate  in  its  treatment  of  the  great  question. 

At  the  close  of  this  speech,  Douglas  said  to  Lincoln  : 
**  You  understand  this  question  of  prohibiting  slavery 
in  the  Territories  better  than  all  the  opposition  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  I  cannot  make  anything 
by  debating  it  with  you.  You,  Lincoln,  have,  here 
and  at  Springfield,  given  me  more  trouble  than  all  the 
opposition  in  the  Senate  combined. ' '  He  then  appealed 
to  Lincoln's  magnanimity  to  agree  that  there  should 


A  Great  Awakening  97 

be  no  more  joint  discussions.    To  this  I^incoln  assented, 
and  both  withdrew  for  the  time  being. 

The  Legislature  elected  that  year  was  to  choose  a 
successor  to  James  Shields,  then  a  Senator  from  Illi- 
nois, a  Democratic  colleague  with  Douglas.  This  was 
the  same  Shields  w'ho,  some  years  before,  had  proposed 
to  fight  a  duel  with  Lincoln.  He  was  a  candidate  for 
re-election,  but  Lincoln's  bout  with  Douglas,  and  the 
fierce  excitement  that  swept  the  country,  had  endan- 
gered his  chances.  It  is  not  certain,  perhaps,  whether 
the  friendship  of  Douglas  or  the  opposition  of  Lincoln 
was  the  more  destructive  of  Shields' s  chances  for  a  re- 
newal of  his  term  in  the  Senate.  In  the  various  ele- 
ments in  the  Legislature,  there  was  a  clear  majority  of 
two  against  any  man  that  had  Douglas's  advocacy. 
Lincoln  led  the  opposition,  and,  by  general  consent, 
was  selected  as  a  candidate  against  Shields.  When  the 
Legislature  came  together,  the  anti-Douglas  men  were 
not  united.  Lyman  Trumbull,  an  able  lawyer  and  an 
accomplished  debater,  was  one  of  the  candidates  of  the 
opponents  of  Douglas  men  ;  Lincoln  was  the  other. 
Repeated  ballotings  produced  no  result,  until  Joel  A. 
Matteson,  Democrat,  had  been  substituted  for  Shields, 
whereupon  Lincoln  relinquished  all  his  chances,  and 
implored  his  friends,  who  were  many  and  steadfast,  to 
leave  him  and  vote  for  Trumbull,  rather  than  endanger 
the  cause  in  which  they  were  all  so  deeply  concerned. 
This  generous  concession  solidified  the  jarring  ele- 
ments of  the  new  party  and  made  its  after-successes 
possible. 


M 


CHAPTER  XI 

THK   KANSAS  STRUGGI^K 

EANWHILE,  immigrants  from  free  States  and 
slave  States  were  pouring  into  Kansas.  In  spite 
of  the  incursions  of  the  pro-slavery  men,  the  hardy 
immigrants  from  Iowa,  northern  Illinois,  and  New 
England  were  clearly  in  the  majority.  The  free-State 
men  were,  indeed,  actual  settlers.  They  took  up  land, 
planted  crops,  and  built  log  cabins  for  their  families, 
evidently  intending  to  stay.  The  borderers,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  rough-riders,  sportsmen,  gamblers. 
They  spent  their  time  in  drinking,  shooting,  scouring 
the  country  for  prey,  and  terrifjang  helpless  women 
and  children. 

Under  the  lead  of  the  notorious  "  Dave  "  Atchison, 
of  Missouri,  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  secret  socie- 
ties, known  as  "  Blue  Lodges,"  were  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  ridding  the  country  of  the  hated  free-State 
men.  Steamers  bound  up  the  Missouri  River,  laden 
with  free-State  immigrants  and  their  movable  property, 
were  stopped  by  these  rufl&ans,  who  swarmed  on  board, 
drove  off  the  immigrants,  put  their  cattle  and  goods 
ashore,  and  compelled  the  ofl&cers  of  the  steamers,  who 
were  only  too  willing  to  be  an  unresisting  party  to  this 
outrage,  to  go  on  and  leave  their  passengers  behind. 

The  border  ruffians  had  on  their  side  the  influence 
of  the  United  States  officials,  the  Missouri  State  gov- 

98 


The  Kansas  Struggle  99 

ernment,  and  the  State  militia.  Under  the  leadership 
of  Atchison,  raids  were  planned  for  long  forays  into 
the  Territory,  the  raiders  returning  into  Missouri 
under  cover  of  the  night,  or  camping  in  secluded  places 
along  the  border,  ready  for  another  excursion.  On  the 
free-State  side  were  such  men  as  "  Jim  "  Lane,  after- 
wards a  Senator  from  Kansas,  and  a  redoubtable  fighter; 
John  Brown,  then  called  Ossawatomie  Brown,  from  his 
pitching  his  tent  on  the  Kansas  stream  of  that  name  ; 
Charles  Robinson,  afterwards  the  Governor  of  the  free 
State  ;  Silas  C.  Pomeroy,  afterwards  Senator  from  the 
new  State  ;  and  others  whose  names  are  gratefully  re- 
membered by  the  early  settlers  of  that  dark  and  troub- 
lous time. 

When  the  local  elections  came  on,  the  free-State  men 
were  astounded  by  the  audacity  and  coolness  with 
which  the  border  men  took  possession  of  the  polls, 
voted  as  often  as  they  pleased,  and  carried  things  gen- 
erally with  a  high  hand.  In  one  instance,  for  example, 
the  borderers  brought  with  them  a  directory  of  the  city 
of  St.  Louis,  and  put  page  after  page  of  it  upon  the 
poll-list,  in  precincts  where  there  were  but  few  votes. 
In  one  precinct,  they  formed  a  lane  of  their  gangs  up 
to  the  door  of  the  log  cabin  where  the  ballot-box  was 
put.  When  the  voter  approached,  he  was  obliged  to 
show  his  ballot  ;  if  it  was  for  slavery,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  deposit  it  in  the  box;  if  not,  he  was  jocularly 
lifted  to  the  roof  of  the  cabin,  where  a  squad  of 
stalwart  men  received  him,  hurried  him  over  the  ridge- 
pole, and  slid  him  down  on  the  other  side,  when  he  was 
permitted  to  escape,  glad  to  get  away  with  his  life. 

Massacres  were  frequent,  and  the  soil  of  the  unhappy 
young  Territory  was  literally  wet  with  blood.  ' '  Bleed- 
ing Kansas  ' '  was  derided  then  and  afterwards  bj'  the 


loo  Abraham   Lincoln 

friends  of  slavery  ;  but  the  terse  phrase  described  the 
condition  of  the  region  where  the  battle  of  freedom  was 
being  fought.  In  these  disturbances,  a  son  of  Ossa- 
watomie  Brown  was  slain,  and  the  father  made  a  vow 
to  avenge  on  slavery  the  death  of  his  son.  Ruined 
homesteads  were  to  be  seen  on  every  hand,  and  for  a 
time  the  borderers,  with  the  national  Government  at 
their  back  and  the  militia  troops  of  Missouri  within 
assisting  distance,  carried  the  day.  Slavery  was 
"  voted  up  "  by  such  means  as  have  been  described, 
and  a  Government  was  established  on  the  basis  of  the 
right  of  any  man  to  own  human  beings  in  the  new 
Territory  of  Kansas. 

All  this  time  Kansas  was  merel}^  a  Territory,  sub- 
ject to  the  rule  of  Congress  and  governed  by  officers 
appointed  by  the  President — not  by  men  elected  by  the 
people.  The  time  would  come  when  the  Territory  must 
be  admitted  into  the  family  of  States,  and  be  allowed 
to  choose  its  own  Legislature,  Governor,  and  other 
officers.  Slavery  must  be  fixed  upon  the  people  before 
that  time  arrived.  The  free-State  men,  in  their  des- 
peration, organized  a  State  government,  framed  a  con- 
stitution with  slavery  left  out,  and  elected  a  Governor, 
Charles  Robinson.  They  established  their  State  capital 
at  Topeka.  The  regular  Territorial  Legislature  and 
seat  of  government  were  established  at  Lecompton. 

About  that  time,  Lincoln  wrote  a  letter  to  his  well- 
beloved  friend,  Joshua  Speed,  of  Kentucky  —  one  who 
not  only  lived  in  a  slave  State,  but  was  still  attached 
to  the  interests  of  slavery  : 

"  You  say  if  Kansas  fairly  votes  herself  a  free  State, 
as  a  Christian  you  will  rather  rejoice  at  it.  All  decent 
slaveholders  talk  that  way,  and  I  do  not  doubt  their 
candor.     But  they  never  vote  that  way.     Although, 


The  Kansas  Struggle  loi 

in  a  private  letter  or  conversation  you  will  express  your 
preference  that  Kansas  shall  be  free,  you  would  vote 
for  no  man  for  Congress  who  would  say  the  same  thing 
publicly.  No  such  man  could  be  elected,  from  any 
district,  or  any  slave  State.  You  think  Stringfellow 
&  Co.  ought  to  be  hung ;  and  yet  you  will  vote  for  the 
exact  type  and  representation  of  Stringfellow.  The 
slave-breeders  and  slave-traders  are  a  small  and  de- 
tested class  among  you,  and  yet  in  politics  they  dictate 
the  course  of  all  of  you,  and  are  as  completely  your 
masters  as  5^ou  are  the  masters  of  your  own  negroes." 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  setting  up  of  the  Kansas  in- 
famy, I^incoln  was  still  reckoned  as  a  Whig.  That 
party,  to  be  sure,  was  in  a  dying  condition;  but  no 
new  party  had  been  formed  to  take  its  place,  or  to  re- 
ceive those  who  were  to  come  out  from  it.  To  those 
who  know  what  lyincoln  did  when  he  became  Presi- 
dent, and  who  know  how  slavery  came  to  an  end  during 
his  term  in  the  presidential  office,  his  reluctance  to  join 
what  was  at  that  time  known  as  the  Abolition  party 
may  seem  difficult  of  explanation.  But  Lincoln  was  a 
statesman.  "  If  all  earthly  power  were  given  me,"  he 
once  said,  *'  I  should  not  know  what  to  do  as  to  the 
existing  institution.  My  first  impulse  would  De  to 
free  all  the  slaves  and  send  them  to  Liberia  —  to  their 
own  native  land.  But  if  they  were  all  landed  there 
in  a  day,  they  would  all  perish  in  the  next  ten  days  ; 
and  there  is  not  surplus  shipping  and  surplus  money 
enough  to  carry  them  there  in  many  times  ten  days. 
What  then  ?  "  This  was  a  question  that  Lincoln  could 
not  answer.  Still,  it  must  be  remembered,  this  was  in 
1854.  As  he  did  not  have  that  power,  he  took  his 
stand  against  any  further  extension  of  slavery. 

Now,  however,  the  old  Whig  party  was  in  ruins.     A 


I02  Abraham  Lincoln 

new  party,  the  Free-Soil  party,  pledged  to  oppose  all 
further  extension  of  slavery,  was  to  rise  and  assert 
itself.  It  may  be  said  that  this  party  occupied  a 
middle  ground  between  the  Democratic  party  (pledged 
as  that  was,  in  fact,  to  the  support  of  slavery)  and  the 
Abolitionists,  pledged  to  destroy  slavery  instantly  and 
by  every  possible  means.  L^incoln  was  the  natural 
leader  of  the  Free-Soil  or  Republican  party.  In  no 
other  party  of  the  country  could  be  found  a  man  who 
had  so  carefully  studied  the  question  of  American 
slavery  as  it  was  related  to  our  system  of  government 
and  to  the  political  parties  of  the  time  as  Lincoln. 
Moreover,  he  was  animated  by  a  sincere  love  of  liberty, 
and  he  was  a  shrewd  and  even  cunning  politician. 

Not  at  once  did  he  throw  in  his  fortunes  with  those 
who  were  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  new  Free-Soil  party. 
He  always  moved  slowly  and  with  a  deliberation  that 
deceived  many  and  annoyed  not  a  few. 

Much  of  his  supposed  hesitancy  was  to  await  the  in- 
evitable consequence  of  events;  and  it  will  help  us  to 
a  better  understanding  of  lyincoln's  purposes  if  we  bear 
in  mind  that,  from  the  first,  he  saw  that  a  conflict  of 
some  kind  was  sure  to  come.  At  length  he  declared 
that  he  must  thenceforth  be  the  champion  of  freedom 
against  slavery  until  "  The  sun  shall  shine,  the  rain 
shall  fall,  and  the  wind  shall  blow  upon  no  man  who 
goes  forth  to  unrequited  toil. ' ' 


CHAPTER  XII 

I.INCOI.N  AND   DOUGI.AS 

IN  1858,  the  senatorial  term  of  Douglas  was  drawing 
to  a  close.  He  desired  to  be  re-elected  and  to  have 
the  endorsement  of  the  people  of  Illinois.  Seeing  how 
the  Lecompton  Constitution  had  been  lawlessly  framed, 
and  realizing  that  slavery  thus  forced  upon  Kansas  had 
already  made  hosts  of  converts  to  the  Republican  party, 
he  had  begun  to  differ,  personally,  from  the  President. 
He  soon,  by  his  votes  in  the  Senate,  showed  that  he 
was  opposed  to  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  It  was 
inconsistent  for  him  to  labor  against  that  which  his 
own  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  had  made  possible.  But 
this  he  did,  and  not  a  few  Republicans  in  the  Eastern 
States  thought  that  he  would  thereafter  be  with  them. 
They  advised  that  the  Illinois  Republicans  should  vote 
for  him.  He  was  now  an  anti-lyccompton  Democrat, 
as  the  phrase  went  ;  he  was  sure,  so  they  thought,  for 
freedom  as  against  slavery.  The  Republicans  of  Illinois 
knew  Douglas  better.  They  refused  to  trust  him,  and 
when  their  convention  met,  June  16,  1858,  they  declared 
that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  their  first  and  only  choice 
for  the  United  States  Senate  to  fill  the  vacanc}^  about 
to  be  created  by  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Douglas's  term 
of  office.  The  anti-Lecompton  Democrats  of  the  State, 
two  months  before,  had  similarly  nominated  Douglas 
to  succeed  himself. 

103 


I04  Abraham  Lincoln 

lyincoln  realized  that  this  was  to  be  a  mighty  struggle. 
None  better  than  he  understood  and  appreciated  the 
great  abilities  and  craftiness  of  Douglas.  None  better 
than  he  knew  how  tender  the  people  of  Illinois  yet  were 
on  the  subject  of  human  slavery,  half  afraid  of  the  stale 
epithet  of  ' '  Abolitionist. ' '  He  framed  his  speech  to  the 
convention  that  had  nominated  him,  putting  into  it  his 
final  platform,  the  platform  from  which  he  was  to  speak 
to  the  people  during  the  coming  canvass.  lyincoln  read 
the  manuscript  of  his  speech  to  his  partner,  Mr.  W.  H. 
Herndon.  That  gentleman  was  somewhat  disma3^ed 
b}^  the  very  first  paragraph.  It  was  almost  an  endorse- 
ment of  the  old  anti-slavery  doctrine  of  disunion  ;  for 
in  it  was  the  since-famous  declaration  :  "A  house 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  I  believe  this 
government  cannot  endure  permanently,  half  slave  and 
half  free."  Mr.  Herndon  said  this  was  all  true  ;  but 
he  was  doubtful  if  it  was  discreet  to  say  so  at  that  time. 
Alluding  to  the  phrase,  "  a  house  divided,"  etc.,  Lin- 
coln said  :  "  The  proposition  has  been  true  for  six 
thousand  years.  I  will  deliver  this  speech  as  it  is 
written."     And  he  did. 

In  the  course  of  that  address  he  said:  "  I  do  not  ex- 
pect the  Union  to  be  dissolved.  I  do  not  expect  the 
house  to  fall.  But  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be 
divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing,  or  all  the  other. 
Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further 
spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall 
rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  ex- 
tinction, or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward  till  it 
shall  become  lawful  in  all  States,  old  as  well  as  new, 
North  as  well  as  South." 

When  this  memorable  debate  began,  Lincoln  and 
Douglas  were  both  in  the  full  maturity  of  their  physical 


Lincoln  and  Douglas  105 

and  intellectual  powers.  Douglas  was  forty-five  years 
old,  and  Lincoln  was  forty-nine.  Douglas  was  a  native 
of  Vermont,  and  had  migrated  at  the  age  of  twenty 
to  Illinois.  Like  Lincoln,  he  was  a  self-made  man, 
and  had  risen  to  eminence  by  the  sheer  force  of  char- 
acter and  genius.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  was 
elected  Attornej^-General  of  the  young  State.  Resign- 
ing this  office,  he  was  chosen  to  the  State  Legislature, 
where  he  speedily  made  his  mark  as  a  shrewd  politician, 
a  ready  debater,  and  a  thoroughly  ''  good  fellow." 
Here  it  was  that  he  first  met  Lincoln.  Subsequently 
he  was  elected  Representative  in  Congress  three  times 
in  succession.  But  before  the  time  came  for  him  to 
take  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  after  his 
third  election,  Douglas  was  chosen  Senator  of  the 
United  States  from  Illinois.  He  was  now  at  the  end 
of  his  second  term  as  Senator,  and  was  ready  to  appeal 
to  the  people  to  choose  members  of  the  Legislature  who 
should  return  him  to  the  Senate. 

Douglas  was  frank,  hearty,  and  affable  in  his  man- 
ners. Although  in  debate  he  was  overbearing  and 
imperious,  towards  his  friends  he  was  familiar,  and 
even  affectionate.  He  was  a  bold,  dashing,  and  fear- 
less debater,  fluent,  never  hesitating  for  a  word  or 
phrase,  aggressive,  and  sometimes  arrogant,  full  of  all 
manner  of  guile,  yet  impressing  every  one  with  his 
apparent  sincerity  and  transparency  of  character.  So 
attractive  was  he  that  he  bound  his  friends  to  him,  as 
it  were,  with  hooks  of  steel.  Small  of  stature,  with 
long  and  grizzled  hair,  at  the  time  this  chapter  of  his- 
tory opens  his  admirers  called  him  the  "  Little  Giant." 
This  was  the  man  who  was  to  meet  Lincoln  in  a  popular 
canvass,  in  which  the  whole  State  was  to  be  traversed. 

Lincoln  was,  as  we  know,  of  almost  herculean  build. 


io6  Abraham  Lincoln 

His  head  was  massive,  poised  on  a  very  long  neck, 
with  stiff  and  obstinate  hair  that  usually  stood  up  in 
irregular  waves.  His  face  was  dark  and  seamed,  his 
eyes  deep  set  beneath  overhanging  and  shaggy  brows  ; 
he  was  beardless,  and  had  at  times  a  far-away  look  on 
his  sad  features  that  struck  even  the  most  casual  ob- 
server as  profoundly  pathetic.  His  manner,  when  he 
was  alert,  was  bright,  and  when  with  his  congenial 
associates,  even  jovial.  In  speaking  he  impressed 
every  one  with  his  directness,  simplicity,  good  sense, 
clearness  of  statement,  wit  and  humor,  and  purity  and 
accuracy  of  language.  At  this  time  he  was  asked  for 
a  brief  biographical  sketch  of  himself.  He  complied 
with  the  following,  which  is  inserted  here  at  a  point 
that  must  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the  crises  in  the  his- 
tory of  Abraham  Lincoln,  son  of  the  Kentucky  back- 
woodsman : 

"  I  was  born  Feb.  12,  1809,  in  Hardin  County,  Ken- 
tucky. My  parents  were  both  born  in  Virginia,  of 
undistinguished  families  —  second  families,  perhaps  I 
should  say.  My  mother,  who  died  in  my  tenth  year, 
was  of  a  family  of  the  name  of  Hanks,  some  of  whom 
now  reside  in  Adams,  and  others  in  Macon,  counties, 
Illinois.  My  paternal  grandfather,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
emigrated  from  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  to  Ken- 
tucky about  1 78 1  or  '2,  where,  a  year  or  two  later,  he 
was  killed  by  Indians,  not  in  battle,  but  by  stealth, 
when  he  was  laboring  to  open  a  farm  in  the  forest. 
His  ancestors,  who  were  Quakers,  went  to  Virginia 
from  Berks  County,  Pennsylvania.  An  effort  to  identify 
them  with  the  New  England  family  of  the  same  name 
ended  in  nothing  more  definite  than  a  similarity  of 
Christian  names  in  both  families,  such  as  Enoch,  Levi, 
Mordecai,  Solomon,  Abraham,  and  the  like. 


Lincoln  and  Douglas  107 


( ( 


My  father,  at  the  death  of  his  father,  was  but  six 
years  of  age,  and  he  grew  up  literally  without  educa- 
tion. He  removed  from  Kentucky  to  what  is  now 
Spencer  County,  Indiana,  in  my  eighth  year.  We 
reached  our  new  home  about  the  time  the  State  came 
into  the  Union.  It  was  a  wild  region  with  many  bears 
and  other  wild  animals  still  in  the  woods.  There  I 
grew  up.  There  were  some  schools,  so  called,  but  no 
qualification  was  ever  required  of  a  teacher  beyond 
*  readin',  writin',  and  cipherin'  '  to  the  Rule  of  Three. 
If  a  straggler  supposed  to  understand  Latin  happened 
to  sojourn  in  the  neighborhood,  he  was  looked  upon  as 
a  wizard.  There  was  absolutely  nothing  to  excite  am- 
bition for  education.  Of  course,  when  I  came  of  age  I 
did  not  know  much.  Still,  somehow,  I  could  read, 
write,  and  cipher  to  the  Rule  of  Three  ;  but  that  was 
all.  I  have  not  been  to  school  since.  The  little  ad- 
vance I  now  have  upon  this  store  of  education,  I  have 
picked  up  from  time  to  time  under  the  pressure  of 
necessity. 

**  I  was  raised  to  farm  work,  which  I  continued  till  I 
was  twenty-two.  At  twenty-one  I  came  to  Illinois, 
and  passed  the  first  year  in  Macon  County.  Then  I 
got  to  New  Salem,  at  that  time  in  Sangamon,  now  in 
Menard  County,  where  I  remained  a  year  as  sort  of 
clerk  in  a  store.  Then  came  the  Black  Hawk  War, 
and  I  was  elected  a  Captain  of  Volunteers,  a  success 
which  gave  me  more  pleasure  than  any  I  have  had 
since.  I  went  [through]  the  campaign,  was  elated, 
ran  for  the  Legislature  the  same  year  (1832),  and  was 
beaten  —  the  only  time  I  have  ever  been  beaten  by  the 
people.  The  next  and  three  succeeding  biennial  elec- 
tions I  was  elected  to  the  Legislature.  I  was  not  a 
candidate  afterwards.     During  this  legislative  period  I 


io8  Abraham  Lincoln 

had  studied  law,  and  removed  to  Springfield  to  practise 
it.  In  1846  I  was  once  elected  to  the  Lower  House  of 
Congress.  Was  not  a  candidate  for  re-election.  From 
1849  to  1854,  both  inclusive,  practised  law  more  assid- 
uously than  ever  before.  Always  a  Whig  in  politics, 
and  generally  on  the  Whig  electoral  tickets,  making 
active  canvasses.  I  was  losing  interest  in  politics, 
when  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  aroused 
me  again.  What  I  have  done  since  then  is  pretty  well 
known. 

*'  If  any  personal  description  of  me  is  thought  de- 
sirable, it  may  be  said  I  am  in  height  six  feet  four 
inches,  nearly;  lean  in  flesh,  weighing,  on  an  average, 
one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  ;  dark  complexion, 
with  coarse  black  hair  and  gray  eyes.  No  other  marks 
or  brands  recollected. 

"  Yours,  very  truly, 

'*  A.  Lincoln." 

Not  long  before  the  opening  of  the  debate  between 
Lincoln  and  Douglas,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  Chief -Justice  Taney  delivering  the  opinion,  had 
decided  practically  that,  by  virtue  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  Republic,  slavery  existed  in  all  the  Territories, 
and  that  Congress  had  no  right  to  prohibit  it.  This 
was  known  as  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  A  negro  of 
that  name  sued  for  his  freedom  and  that  of  his  wife 
and  children,  claiming  that  having  been  carried  by  his 
owner  into  a  Territory  north  of  the  northern  boundary 
of  Missouri,  wherein  slavery  was  excluded  by  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise,  he  had  become  freed  by  the  opera- 
tion of  the  law.  This  decision  made  slavery  national, 
freedom  local. 

Obviously,  then,  the  two  important  topics  before  the 


Lincoln  and  .Douglas  109 

country  were  the  effect  that  the  Dred  Scott  decision 
would  have  upon  slavery  and  freedom,  and  the  struggle 
in  Kansas.  Although  Douglas  was  now  an  anti- 
Lecompton  Democrat,  he  was  to  be  taken  to  task  be- 
fore the  country  for  the  result  in  Kansas  of  his  advocacy 
of  what  he  called  popular  sovereignty.  This  had  made 
the  Lecompton  infamy  possible.  He  also  approved  the 
Dred  Scott  decision  ;  but  the  dogma  laid  down  in  that 
decision  effectually  killed  his  own  doctrine  of  popular 
sovereignty.  It  put  slavery  into  all  the  Territories  of 
the  United  States  before  the  people  of  those  Territories 
could  have  an  opportunity  of  saying  whether  it  should 
be  voted  up  or  down. 

Replying  to  Douglas's  speech  in  which  that  orator  ac- 
cused Lincoln  of  advocating  the  disunion  of  the  States, 
Lincoln  said  that  he  believed  that  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  expected  that,  in  course  of  time,  slavery 
would  become  extinct  ;  they  had  decreed  that  slavery 
should  not  go  into  territory  where  it  had  not  already 
gone,  and  that  when  he  had  said  that  the  opponents 
of  slavery  would  place  that  institution  where  the  public 
mind  would  rest  in  the  expectation  of  its  ultimate  ex- 
tinction, he  only  meant  to  say  that  they  would  place  it 
where  the  fathers  of  the  Republic  originally  placed  it. 
In  Douglas's  speech,  as  was  common  in  those  days, 
when  men  were  cornered  for  want  of  logical  answers  to 
Republican  arguments,  the  speaker  had  intimated  that 
Lincoln  was  in  favor  of  a  complete  equality  of  the  black 
and  the  white  races.  In  his  reply,  Lincoln  said  :  *'  I 
protest,  now  and  forever,  against  that  counterfeit  logic 
which  presumes  that  because  I  do  not  want  a  negro 
woman  for  a  slave,  I  do  necessarily  want  her  for  a  wife. 
My  understanding  is  that  I  need  not  have  her  for 
either  ;  but,  as  God  made  us  separate,  we  can  leave 


I  lo  Abraham  Lincoln 

one  another  alone,  and  do  one  another  much  good 
thereby. ' ' 

This  was  the  opening  of  the  great  debate  in  Chicago, 
in  the  summer  of  1858.  A  few  days  later,  Douglas 
spoke  at  Bloomington  and  then  in  Springfield,  on  each 
occasion  devoting  himself  to  Lincoln's  previous 
speeches.  Lincoln  spoke  in  Springfield,  also  ;  and, 
addressing  himself  to  the  expectation  that  Douglas 
would,  some  day,  be  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  the  anxious  politicians  of  his  party  were 
waiting  for  that  event  with  great  hopefulness,  Lincoln 
said  : 

*'  They  have  seen,  in  his  round,  jolly,  fruitful  face, 
post-offices,  land-ofl5ces,  marshalships,  and  Cabinet  ap- 
pointments, chargeships  and  foreign  missions,  bursting 
and  sprouting  out,  in  wonderful  luxuriance,  ready  to 
be  laid  hold  of  by  their  greedy  hands.  And  as  they 
have  been  gazing  upon  this  attractive  picture  so  long, 
they  cannot,  in  the  little  distraction  that  has  taken 
place  in  the  party,  bring  themselves  to  give  up  the 
charming  hope  ;  but  with  greedier  anxiety  they  rush 
about  him,  sustain  him,  and  give  him  marches,  tri- 
umphal entries,  and  receptions  beyond  what,  even  in 
the  days  of  his  highest  prosperity,  they  could  have 
brought  about  in  his  favor.  On  the  contrary,  nobody 
has  ever  expected  me  to  be  President.  In  my  poor, 
lean,  lank  face  nobody  has  ever  seen  that  any  cabbages 
were  sprouting  out." 

All  this,  however,  was  a  contest  at  which  both  dis- 
putants were,  so  to  speak,  at  arm's  length  from  each 
other.  Lincoln  wanted  a  closer  wrestle  with  the 
'*  Little  Giant."  Accordingl}^  he  addressed  a  note  to 
Douglas,  asking  him  if  he  would  agree  to  a  joint  can- 
vass of  the  State,  each  speaking  from  the  same  plat- 


Lincoln  and  Douglas  iii 

form  and  each  having  his  own  quota  of  time  allotted 
him.  Douglas  objected  to  this  arrangement,  several 
reasons,  satisfactory  to  himself,  being  given.  But, 
after  some  negotiation,  arrangements  were  made  by 
which  a  joint  debate  was  fixed  for  seven  different 
points,  the  first  being  at  Ottawa,  August  21,  1858,  and 
the  last  at  Alton,  October  15th.  Meanwhile  both 
speakers  were  industriously  canvassing  the  State,  each 
in  his  own  way  and  independently  of  the  other. 

lyincoln  travelled  in  an  unostentatious  and  inex- 
pensive manner.  Douglas  moved  from  point  to  point 
on  a  special  railway  train,  accompanied  by  a  brass 
band  and  cannon,  with  the  blare  and  volleying  of 
which  his  entrance  to  town  was  heralded.  Douglas 
did  not  always  observe  the  proprieties  of  debate  ;  and 
too  often  the  unmannerly  followers  of  the  ''  Little 
Giant"  insolently  interrupted  the  opponent  of  their 
chieftain.  Lincoln  during  this  memorable  canvass 
was  shamefully  belied  and  misrepresented,  but  no 
word  of  remonstrance  or  complaint  ever  escaped  his 
lips.  Douglas  resorted  to  the  use  of  unworthy  epithets 
and  insinuations.  He  continually  harped  on  the  asser- 
tion that  the  Republicans  were  in  favor  of  negro  social 
equality,  and  he  invariably  referred  to  them  as  **  black 
Republicans, ' '  and  employed  other  terms  to  express  his 
contempt.  Now  that  we  can  look  back  upon  this  re- 
markable episode  in  the  history  of  American  politics,  it 
must  be  admitted  that  Lincoln's  bearing,  deportment, 
and  general  behavior  were  all  superior  to  Douglas's. 

Mr.  Douglas  in  these  debates  contended  that  each 
State  was  privileged  to  decide  for  itself  just  what  rights, 
if  any,  it  should  give  to  the  negro  ;  that  the  negro  had 
no  natural  equality ;  that  the  people  of  each  Territory 
had  a  right  to  say  whether  they  would  have  slavery  or 


112  Abraham   Lincoln 

not  ;  and  that  the  Union  and  the  government  could 
exist  forever,  so  far  as  he  could  see,  half  slave  and  half 
free.  Especially  did  he  insist  that  those  who  differed 
from  him  were  in  favor  of  negro  social  equality, —  the 
admission  of  negroes  to  the  homes  and  bosoms  of  those 
who  were  in  favor  of  limiting  slaverj^  to  the  States  in 
which  it  then  existed,  or  of  excluding  it  from  the 
Territories. 

lyincoln,  on  the  other  hand,  planted  himself  squarel}^ 
on  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ;  that  all  men 
were  born  free,  and  that  they  all  had  certain  rights  of 
which  they  could  not  be  justly  deprived,  such  as  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  The  negro,  he 
insisted,  was  a  man.  Slavery  was  wrong,  and  it  should 
at  least  be  confined  in  the  States  in  which  it  already 
existed;  it  should  not  be  the  natural  condition  of  things 
in  the  Territories,  as  the  Dred  Scott  decision  made  it. 
On  this  point,  he  sharply  arraigned  Douglas  for  his  in- 
consistency. Douglas  clamored  for  popular  sover- 
eignty, the  right  of  the  voters  in  a  Territory  to  say 
whether  slavery  should  exist  with  them  or  not,  and 
the  Dred  Scott  decision  declared  that  slavery  was 
already  in  the  Territories.  This,  said  Lincoln,  is  de- 
claring that  the  people  have  a  right  to  drive  away  that 
which  has  a  right  to  go  there. 

It  was  Lincoln's  manifest  purpose  to  compel  Douglas 
to  desert  his  seeming  indifference  to  slavery,  and  to  say 
whether  he  thought  it  right  or  wrong  in  itself.  In  his 
view,  the  Dred  Scott  decision  and  the  Douglas  idea  of 
popular  sovereignty  could  not  be  held  together  in  one 
man's  belief.  So  he  framed  questions  designed  to 
bring  the  matter  before  Douglas  in  such  a  shape  as  to 
oblige  him  to  admit  or  deny  the  abstract  rights  of 
slavery.      Lincoln's   friends  remonstrated   with   him. 


Lincoln  and  Douglas  113 

"  If  you  put  that  question  to  him,"  they  said,  **  he 
will  perceive  that  the  answer,  giving  practical  force 
and  effect  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision  in  the  Territories, 
inevitably  loses  him  the  battle  ;  and  he  will  therefore 
reply  by  offering  the  decision  as  an  abstract  principle, 
but  denying  its  practical  application.  He  will  say  that 
the  decision  is  just  and  right,  but  it  is  not  to  be  put 
into  force  and  effect  in  the  Territories. " — "  If  he  takes 
that  shoot,"  said  Lincoln,  "  he  can  never  be  Presi- 
dent." Lincoln's  anxious  friends  replied  :  *'  That  is 
not  your  lookout  ;  you  are  after  the  senatorship. " — 
"  No,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  **  I  am  killing  larger  game. 
The  battle  of  i860  is  worth  a  hundred  of  this." 

On  the  points  here  indicated,  the  seven  joint  debates 
usually  turned.  Everybody  felt  that  Lincoln  was,  to 
use  the  common  expression  of  the  country,  **  getting 
the  best ' '  of  Douglas.  At  some  times,  indeed,  Douglas, 
by  his  manner,  showed  that  he  thought  so  too.  For 
example,  at  Charleston,  Illinois,  when  they  were  in  their 
fourth  meeting,  Lincoln's  reply  to  Douglas  was  power- 
ful and  intense  in  its  vigor.  Douglas's  evasions  and 
shifty  tricks  were  exposed  with  a  clearness  of  logic  that 
was  wonderful,  and  so  convincing  that  everybody  saw 
it  ;  even  Douglas's  friends  seemed  to  be  seized  with  a 
panic,  and  the  great  assembly  was  stirred  with  a 
strange  tremor.  Douglas  realized  his  overthrow,  his 
inability  to  reply,  although  he  had  the  closing  of  that 
day's  debate.  He  lost  his  temper,  left  his  seat,  and, 
watch  in  hand,  paced  up  and  down  the  rear  of  the 
platform,  behind  the  speaker,  his  impatience  manifest 
in  his  manner.  The  instant  that  the  hands  of  Douglas's 
watch  marked  the  moment  for  Lincoln  to  stop,  he 
turned  the  timepiece  towards  Lincoln,  and  eagerl}^ 
cried:  "Sit  down,  Lincoln,  sit  down;  your  time  is  up." 


114  Abraham  Lincoln 

Turning  his  face,  lighted  with  the  fire  of  his  own 
inspiration,  to  the  speaker  behind  him,  Lincoln  calmly- 
said:  *' I  will.  I  will  quit.  I  believe  my  time  w  up." 
— "  Yes,"  said  one  on  the  platform,  "  Douglas  has  had 
enough.     It  is  time  you  let  him  up." 

These  debates  attracted  great  and  earnest  attention 
all  over  the  country.  They  were  made  the  occasion  of 
vast  outpourings  of  the  people  of  the  State  and  of 
the  neighboring  region.  The  two  men  were  always 
promptly  on  the  field  to  fulfil  their  engagements  ;  and 
they  invariably  found  a  tremendous  concourse  of  people 
waiting  to  hear  them.  People  rode  long  distances  in 
farm-wagons  ;  and  companies  of  men  from  a  distance 
camped  for  the  night  under  the  trees,  patiently  en- 
during fatigue  and  privation  to  hear  the  mighty  truths 
discussed  that  so  intimately  concerned  the  national 
well-being.  Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  Re- 
public had  so  good  an  opportunity  come  for  teaching 
the  common  people  the  principles  that  underlie  our 
free  government. 

The  echo  of  the  controversy  penetrated  ever}^  nook 
and  corner  of  the  Republic,  until  weary  slaves  on  distant 
plantations  heard  the  whisper  of  their  coming  freedom  ; 
for  this  was  but  a  preparation  of  the  larger  struggle 
that  was  to  come. 

Just  before  the  first  meeting  of  the  two  disputants,  a 
friend  of  Lincoln's  met  him  at  a  great  political  gather- 
ing in  Springfield,  and  expressed  to  him,  as  delicately 
as  possible,  the  fears  of  those  who  loved  him  so  well. 
In  the  half-jocular,  half- serious  manner  that  was  so 
peculiar  to  him  he  said,  with  lips  compressed  :  *'  My 
friend,  sit  down  here  a  minute  and  I  will  tell  you  a 
story.  You  and  I  have  travelled  the  circuit  together, 
attending  court,  and  have  often  seen  two  men  about  to 


Lincoln  and  .  Douglas  1 1 5 

fight.  One  of  them,  the  big  or  the  little  giant,  as  the 
case  may  be,  is  noisy  and  boastful  ;  he  jumps  high  in 
the  air  and  strikes  his  feet  together,  smites  his  fists  to- 
gether, brags  about  what  he  is  going  to  do,  and  tries 
hard  to  skeer  the  other  man.  The  other  says  not  a 
word.  His  arms  are  at  his  side,  his  fists  are  clenched, 
his  teeth  set,  his  head  settled  firmly  on  his  shoulders; 
he  saves  his  breath  and  strength  for  the  struggle.  This 
man  will  whip,  just  as  sure  as  the  fight  comes  off. 
Good-bye,  and  remember  what  I  say." 

Nevertheless,  Douglas  was  elected  United  States 
Senator.  On  the  other  hand,  all  over  the  Republic  it 
was  felt  that  Lincoln  had  come  off  conqueror  in  the 
field  of  debate,  had  worsted  the  hitherto  unconquerable 
Douglas,  and  had  made  for  himself  a  name  that  should 
endure.  In  one  of  the  later  speeches  of  this  wonderful 
debate,  lyincoln  said  :  "I  say  to  you,  that  in  this 
mighty  issue,  it  is  nothing  to  the  mass  of  the  people  of 
the  nation  whether  Judge  Douglas  or  myself  are  or  shall 
ever  be  heard  of  after  this  night.  It  may  be  a  trifle  to 
us,  but,  in  connection  with  this  mighty  issue,  upon 
which,  perhaps,  hang  the  destinies  of  the  nation,  the 
United  States  senatorship  is  absolutely  nothing." 

In  the  debates  with  Douglas,  I^incoln  was  irritated 
with  Douglas's  constant  iteration  of  the  charge  that 
he,  Lincoln,  had  endorsed  certain  statements  of  Senator 
Trumbull's  that  were,  as  Douglas  said,  untrue.  Finally 
Lincoln  said  :  '*  Why,  sir,  there  is  not  a  single  state- 
ment in  Trumbull's  speech  that  depends  on  Trumbull's 
veracity.  Why  does  not  Judge  Douglas  answer  the 
facts  ?  ...  If  you  have  studied  geometry,  you  re- 
member that  by  a  course  of  reasoning  Euclid  proves 
that  all  the  angles  in  a  triangle  are  equal  to  two  right 
angles.     E^uclid  has  shown  how  to  work  it  out.     Now 


ii6  Abraham  Lincoln 

if  you  undertook  to  disprove  that  proposition,  to  prove 
that  it  was  erroneous,  would  you  do  it  by  calling 
Euclid  a  liar  ?  That  is  the  way  Judge  Douglas  answers 
Trumbull." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

AFTKR  A  GRKAT  STRUGGI.E; 

THE  election  was  over,  and  the  two  champions  were 
left  in  a  condition  that  varied  with  each.  The 
hundred  days  of  a  tense  and  exciting  canvass  left  no 
mark  on  Lincoln.  Douglas,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
badly  shattered  ;  his  voice  was  almost  gone,  and  he 
scarcely  spoke  above  a  whisper.  He  showed  great 
fatigue,  and  he  sought  rest  and  repose  as  soon  as  he 
could  get  away  from  his  friends.  But  Douglas,  too, 
had  an  iron  constitution,  and  he  soon  rallied  his  phys- 
ical forces,  and  was  himself  again  after  a  few  days  of 
rest.  lyater  on,  he  went  through  several  of  the  Southern 
States,  descending  towards  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  the 
Mississippi  River.  At  various  points  down  the  stream 
he  was  received  with  acclaim,  and  his  speeches  mani- 
fested his  desire  to  recover  with  the  slave-owning  people 
of  the  South  whatever  he  might  have  lost  in  the  debate 
on  the  free  soil  of  Illinois. 

It  was  during  this  brief  tour  that  Douglas  made  use 
of  the  famous  '*  crocodile  "  figure  of  speech,  afterwards 
taken  up  by  Lincoln.  Douglas  said  :  "  As  between 
the  crocodile  and  the  negro,  I  take  the  side  of  the 
negro  ;  but,  as  between  the  negro  and  the  white  man, 
I  would  go  for  the  white  man,  every  time."  Lincoln, 
at  home,  noted  that  ;  and  afterwards,  when  he  had  oc- 
casion to  refer  to  the  remark,  he  said  :  '*  I  believe  that 

117 


ii8  Abraham  Lincoln 

this  is  a  sort  of  proposition  in  proportion,  which  nmy 
be  stated  thus  :  '  As  the  negro  is  to  the  white  man,  so 
is  the  crocodile  to  the  negro  ;  and  as  the  negro  may 
rightfully  treat  the  crocodile  as  a  beast  or  reptile,  so 
the  white  man  may  rightfully  treat  the  negro  as  a 
beast  or  reptile.'  Now,  my  brother  Kentuckians,  who 
believe  in  this,  you  ought  to  thank  Judge  Douglas  for 
having  put  that  in  a  much  more  taking  way  than  any 
of  yourselves  have  done." 

Lincoln  now  resumed  his  practice  of  law,  and  to  all 
appearances  had  given  up  thoughts  of  political  prefer- 
ment ;  but  he  did  not  conceal  his  regret  at  the  failure 
of  his  party  to  carry  the  Legislature  and  secure  his 
own  election  to  the  United  States  Senate.  When 
asked  by  a  friend  how  he  felt  when  his  defeat  was 
assured  by  the  returns  of  the  election,  he  said,  in  his 
usual  good-natured  and  jocose  way,  that  he  felt  '*  like 
the  boy  who  stubbed  his  toe,  too  badly  to  laugh,  and 
too  big  to  cry." 

Lincoln's  affability,  perfect  simplicity,  good-nature, 
and  homelike  freedom  of  manner  had  by  this  time 
made  him,  as  it  were,  an  inmate  of  every  household 
in  the  West.  Everybody  among  those  plain  people 
recognized  him  as  **  one  of  us,"  a  man  to  be  loved  and 
admired,  and  not  at  a  distance  either.  The  Lincoln- 
Douglas  debate,  however,  gave  him  a  wider  fame.  The 
speeches  had  been  so  extensively  read,  and  the  joint 
canvass  was  in  itself  so  unique  an  affair  to  Eastern  peo- 
ple, that  they  all  thought  they  knew  now  the  two  men 
who  had  figured  on  this  national  stage.  Invitations 
came  pouring  upon  Lincoln  from  all  over  the  North- 
ern States,  seeking  to  secure  his  services  in  the  battle 
being  fought  in  each  State.  But  during  the  winter  of 
1858-59,  he  devoted  himself  to  his  own  private  affairs. 


After  a  Great  Struggle  119 

In  May,  1859,  he  was  called  upon  to  say,  as  a  possible 
candidate  for  the  presidency,  what  were  his  views  con- 
cerning the  attempts  made  in  Massachusetts  to  curtail 
the  political  privileges  of  naturalized  foreigners.  lyin- 
coln,  while  declining  to  criticise  Massachusetts,  said  he 
should  be  sorry  to  see  any  such  proposition  brought  up 
in  Illinois,  and  he  should  oppose  it  wherever  he  had  the 
right  to  do  so.  "  As  I  understand  the  spirit  of  our  in- 
stitutions," said  he,  "  it  is  designed  to  promote  the  ele- 
vation of  men.  I  am,  therefore,  hostile  to  anything 
that  tends  to  their  debasement.  It  is  well  known  that 
I  deplore  the  depressed  condition  of  the  blacks,  and  it 
would,  therefore,  be  very  inconsistent  for  me  to  look 
with  approval  upon  any  measure  that  infringes  upon  the 
inalienable  rights  of  white  men,  whether  or  not  they 
are  born  in  another  land  or  speak  a  different  language 
from  our  own." 

The  Republicans  of  Illinois  held  their  annual  con- 
vention in  Decatur,  Macon  County,  May  10,  1859. 
Lincoln  was  present,  and  as  soon  as  his  tall  form  was 
seen  on  the  platform,  the  entire  assemblage,  forgetting 
everything  else,  rose  as  one  man  and  cheered  and 
cheered  again,  until,  as  one  who  was  present  has  said, 
'  *  it  seemed  as  if  they  never  wo2ild  stop. ' '  Not  often  do 
men  who  have  passed  through  defeat  receive  such  a 
greeting  as  that  given  to  the  non-elected  candidate  for 
United  States  Senator.  When  order  was  restored,  the 
Republican  Governor  of  the  State,  Richard  Oglesby, 
said  that  there  was  at  the  door  an  old-time  Macon 
County  Democrat  who  had  a  contribution  to  make  to 
the  convention.  The  curiosity  of  the  delegates  was 
stimulated,  and  they  looked,  to  see  two  ancient  fence 
rails,  decorated  with  ribbons  of  red,  white,  and  blue, 
borne  into  the  hall  by  Thomas  Hanks,  on  the  rails 


I20  Abraham  Lincoln 

being  the  inscription  :  "  Abraham  lyincoln,  the  Rail 
Candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  i860.  Two  rails  from 
a  lot  of  three  thousand,  made  in  1830  by  Thomas 
Hanks  and  Abe  I^incoln,  whose  father  was  the  first 
pioneer  in  Macon  County."  This  was  Lincoln's  first 
public  nomination  to  the  presidency. 

These  were  rails  split  by  Lincoln  and  Hanks  when, 
as  we  know,  young  Abraham  tarried  with  his  father, 
after  building  a  log  cabin  and  ploughing  their  first 
field  in  Illinois,  long  enough  to  fence  in  a  small  parcel 
of  land  sown  with  grain.  Lincoln  being  asked  if  he 
supposed  those  were  the  veritable  rails  that  he  and 
Hanks  had  made,  said  :  "  I  would  n't  make  my  affi- 
davit that  they  were.  But  Hanks  and  I  did  make  rails 
on  that  piece  of  ground,  although  I  think  I  could  make 
better  rails  now  ;  and  I  did  say  that  if  there  were  any 
rails  that  we  had  split,  I  would  n't  wonder  if  those 
were  the  rails." 

Lincoln  did  not  believe  in  what  we  call  "  stage 
tricks,"  and  he  was  not  greatly  pleased  with  the  rail 
incident,  although  he  was  gratified  by  the  enthusiasm 
of  his  friends  when  they  saw  this  evidence  of  his 
humble  toil.  He  took  good  care  to  say  that  the  intro- 
duction of  these  reminders  of  the  past  life  of  the  young 
backwoodsman  was  a  surprise  to  him.  He  never  ceased 
to  be  sorry  that,  when  he  was  obliged  to  split  rails,  he 
could  not  have  been  in  college,  or  devoting  his  time  to 
great  and  useful  study.  But  for  all  that,  from  that 
day  forward  Lincoln  was  hailed  as  "  the  rail-splitter  of 
Illinois."  And  when  he  became  in  fact  a  regular  can- 
didate before  the  people,  some  said,  ' '  Will  he  split  the 
Union  as  he  used  to  split  rails  ?  " 

During  the  winter  of  1859-60,  Lincoln  visited,  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  for  which 


After  a  Great  Struggle  121 

he  had  done  so  much.  Tremendous  enthusiasm  greeted 
him  wherever  he  appeared.  In  Leavenworth,  it  is 
said,  notwithstanding  a  great  storm  that  raged  in  the 
streets,  he  was  met  by  a  great  procession  of  people  who 
escorted  him  to  his  hotel,  vast  throngs  being  gathered 
on  the  sidewalks  cheering,  every  available  coign  of 
vantage  being  occupied  by  persons  greedy  for  a  sight 
of  him. 

In  September,  1859,  Lincoln  spoke  several  times  in 
Ohio,  and,  being  near  the  Kentucky  border,  at  Cincin- 
nati he  addressed  a  part  of  his  speech  to  natives  of 
that  State,  asking  them,  among  other  things,  what 
they  would  do  with  their  part  of  the  Union,  if  they 
took  it  away,  as  they  were  now  beginning  to  threaten 
that  they  would.  "  Are  you  going  to  keep  it  alongside 
of  us  outrageous  fellows  ?  "  he  asked.  *'  Or  are  you 
going  to  build  up  a  wall,  some  way,  between  your 
country  and  ours,  by  which  that  movable  property  of 
yours  can't  come  over  here  any  more,  to  the  danger  of 
your  losing  it  ?  " 

Early  in  i860,  Lincoln  received  an  invitation  to 
speak  in  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn,  of  which  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  was  pastor.  He  accepted  the  invitation, 
but  the.  place  of  assembling  was  subsequently  changed 
to  the  Cooper  Union.  Of  Lincoln  at  this  meeting  Am- 
bassador Choate  has  recently  said  ^  : 

"It  is  now  forty  years  since  I  first  saw  and  heard 
Abraham  Lincoln,  but  the  impression  which  he  left 
on  my  mind  is  ineffaceable.  After  his  great  successes 
in  the  West  he  came  to  New  York  to  make  a  political 
address.     He  appeared  in  every  sense  of  the  word  like 

^  "The  Career  and  Character  of  Abraham  Ivincoln,"  an  ad- 
dress before  the  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Society,  November 
13,  1900. 


122  Abraham  Lincoln 

one  of  the  plain  people  among  whom  he  loved  to  be 
counted.     At  first  sight  there  was  nothing  impressive 
or  imposing  about  him,  except  that  his  great  stature 
singled  him   out   from  the  crowd  ;   his  clothes  hung 
awkwardly  on  his  giant  frame,  his  face  was  of  a  dark 
pallor  without  the  slightest  tinge  of  color  ;  his  seamed 
and  rugged  features  bore  the  furrows  of  hardship  and 
struggle  ;  his  deep-set  eyes  looked  sad  and  anxious  ; 
his  countenance  in  repose  gave  little  evidence  of  that 
brain  power  which  had  raised  him  from  the  lowest  to 
the  highest  station   among   his  countrymen  ;    as  he 
talked  to  me  before  the  meeting  he  seemed  ill  at  ease, 
with   that  sort  of  apprehension  which  a  young  man 
might  feel   before  presenting   himself  to  a  new  and 
strange  audience,  whose  critical  disposition  he  dreaded. 
'*  When  Mr.  Bryant  presented   him,   on   the  high 
platform  of  the  Cooper  Institute,  a  vast  sea  of  eager 
upturned  faces  greeted  him,  full  of  intense  curiosity  to 
see  what  this  rude  child  of  the  people  was  like.     He 
was  equal  to  the  occasion.     When  he  spoke  he  was 
transformed  ;  his  eye  kindled,  his  voice  rang,  his  face 
shone  and  seemed  to  light  up  the  whole  assembly. 
For  an  hour  and  a  half  he  held  his  audience  in  the 
hollow  of  his  hand.     His  style  of  speech  and  manner 
of  delivery  were  severely  simple.     What  Lowell  called 
*  the  grand  simplicities  of  the  Bible,'  with  which  he 
was  so  familiar,  were  reflected  in  his  discourse.     With 
no  attempt  at  ornament  or  rhetoric,  without  parade  or 
pretence,  he  spoke  straight  to  the  point.     If  any  came 
expecting  the  turgid  eloquence  or  the  ribaldry  of  the 
frontier,  they  must  have  been  startled  at  the  earnest 
and  sincere  purity  of  his  utterances.     It  was  marvel- 
lous to  see  how  this  untutored  man,   by  mere  self- 
discipline  and  the  chastening  of  his  own  spirit,  had 


After  a  Great  Struggle  123 

outgrown  all  meretricious  arts  and  found  his  own  way 
to  the  grandeur  and  strength  of  absolute  simplicit3^" 

This  is  the  testimony  of  another  who  was  present  on 
that  historic  occasion  :  ' '  When  Lincoln  rose  to  speak, 
I  was  greatly  disappointed.  He  was  tall,  tall — oh, 
how  tall,  and  so  angular  and  awkward  that  I  had,  for 
an  instant,  a  feeling  of  pity  for  so  ungainly  a  man. 
His  clothes  were  black  and  ill-fitting,  badly  wrinkled 
—  as  if  they  had  been  jammed  carelessl}^  into  a  small 
trunk.  His  bushy  head,  with  the  stiff  black  hair 
thrown  back,  was  balanced  on  a  long  and  lean  head- 
stalk,  and  when  he  raised  his  hands  in  an  opening 
gesture,  I  noticed  that  they  were  very  large.  He 
began  in  a  low  tone  of  voice, —  as  if  he  were  used  to 
speaking  outdoors,  and  was  afraid  of  speaking  too 
loud.  He  said,  '  Mr.  Cheerman,'  instead  of  '  Mr. 
Chairman,'  and  employed  many  other  words  with  an 
old-fashioned  pronunciation.  I  said  to  myself  :  '  Old 
fellow,  you  won't  do  ;  it  's  all  very  well  for  the  wild 
West,  but  this  will  never  go  down  in  New  York.'  But 
pretty  soon  he  began  to  get  into  his  subject  ;  he 
straightened  up,  made  regular  and  graceful  gestures  ; 
his  face  lighted  as  with  an  inward  fire;  the  whole  man 
was  transfigured.  I  forgot  his  clothes,  his  personal 
appearance,  and  his  individual  peculiarities.  Presently, 
forgetting  myself,  I  was  on  my  feet  with  the  rest, 
yelling  like  a  wild  Indian,  cheering  this  wonderful 
man.  In  the  close  parts  of  his  argument,  you  could 
hear  the  gentle  sizzling  of  the  gas-burners.  When  he 
reached  a  climax,  the  thunders  of  applause  were  ter- 
rific. It  was  a  great  speech.  When  I  came  out  of  the 
hall,  my  face  glowing  with  excitement  and  my  frame 
all  a-quiver,  a  friend,  with  his  eyes  aglow,  asked  me 
what  I  thought  of  Abe  Lincoln,  the  rail-splitter.     I 


124  Abraham  Lincoln 

said  :  *  He  *s  the  greatest  man  since  St.  Paul.'     And 
I  think  so  yet." 

Lincoln  took  for  his  theme,  that  night,  the  saying 
of  his  old  adversary,  Douglas  :  *'  Our  fathers,  when 
they  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live, 
understood  this  question  [the  question  of  slavery]  just 
as  well,  and  even  better  than  we  do  now."  This,  as 
Lincoln  said,  gave  him  and  Douglas  a  common  starting- 
point  for  discussion.  His  speech  was  devoted,  for  the 
most  part,  to  an  inquiry  into  what  the  fathers  who 
framed  the  government  thought  of  and  did  about  slav- 
ery ;  and  he  showed,  by  conclusive  and  irrefutable 
argument  and  citations  from  history,  that  the  fathers, 
whom  Douglas  so  confidently  referred  to,  acted  as 
though  they  believed  that  the  Federal  Government 
had  no  power  to  put  slavery  into  the  Territories. 
The  next  section  of  his  speech  was  a  kindly  and  almost 
affectionate  address  to  the  people  of  the  South.  The 
concluding  part  was  addressed  to  Republicans,  and  he 
closed  with  these  words:  ''  Neither  let  us  be  slandered 
from  our  duty  by  false  accusations  against  us,  nor 
frightened  from  it  by  menaces  of  destruction  to  the 
government.  Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes 
might,  and  in  that  faith,  let  us,  to  the  end,  dare  to  do 
our  duty,  as  we  understand  it." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

KI^KCTKD  TO  THE  PR^SIDEJNCY 

IN  the  spring  of  i860  the  South  was  dismayed.  All 
hope  of  securing  Kansas  as  a  slave  State  was  gone. 
A  hostile  majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
made  impossible  the  admission  of  Kansas  under  the 
odious  and  fraudulent  Lecompton  constitution.  The 
purchase  of  Cuba  was  now  also  impossible.  California 
had  long  since  been  admitted  as  a  free  State,  in  spite 
of  the  threats  and  promises  of  the  pro-slavery  adminis- 
tration. All  schemes  for  the  acquiring  of  new  territory 
for  the  expansion  of  the  slave  power  had  failed  utterly. 
A  new  President  was  about  to  be  chosen.  The  Demo- 
cratic party  was  rent  into  two  seemingly  irreconcilable 
parties, — Lecompton  and  anti-Lecompton.  Threats  of 
secession  were  freely  made.  Many  thought  that  these 
were  mere  bluster,  words  intended  to  be  taken  back  if 
the  South  could  be  reassured.  And  some  timorous 
people  wanted  the  South  to  be  reassured.  In  his 
Cooper  Union  speech,  Lincoln,  addressing  himself  to 
the  threatening  class,  said  :  ''  You  say  you  will  destroj^ 
the  Union  ;  and  then  you  say  the  great  crime  of  hav- 
ing destroyed  it  will  be  put  upon  us.  That  is  cool. 
A  highwayman  holds  a  pistol  to  my  ear,  and  mutters 
through  his  teeth  :  *  Stand  and  deliver,  or  I  shall  kill 
you,  and  then  you  will  be  a  murderer. '  To  be  sure, 
what  the  robber  demanded  of  me  —  my  money  —  was 

125 


126  Abraham  Lincoln 

my  own  ;  but  it  was  no  more  my  own  than  my  vote  is 
my  own  ;  and  a  threat  of  death  to  me  to  extort  my 
money,  and  threat  of  destruction  to  the  Union  to  extort 
my  vote,  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  in  principle." 

With  these  mutterings  in  the  air,  the  Democratic 
convention  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the  presidency 
assembled  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  April  23, 
i860.  It  does  not  now  seem  likely  that  the  Northern 
and  the  Southern  leaders  expected  to  be  able  to  unite 
on  any  candidate.  Douglas  was  the  one  man  most 
prominent  in  the  party.  The  Northern  Democrats 
would  have  him  and  no  other.  But  his  speeches  dur- 
ing the  canvass  with  Lincoln,  as  well  as  his  later  oppo- 
sition to  the  Lecompton  constitution  for  Kansas,  had 
ruined  his  chances  with  the  South.  Nothing  short  of 
an  unconditional  declaration  in  favor  of  slavery  would 
satisfy  these  determined  champions  of  slavery.  After 
days  of  fruitless  discussion,  the  Democratic  convention 
was  torn  into  pieces.  The  pro-slavery  delegates  with- 
drew in  a  body,  and  organized  in  another  building 
what  they  called  a  "  constitutional  convention."  No 
nominations  were  made,  however,  at  that  time,  and  the 
convention  adjourned  to  meet  in  Richmond,  Virginia. 
The  other  wing  of  the  party  remained  in  convention  in 
Charleston,  and,  after  fifty-seven  unsuccessful  ballot- 
ings,  thej^  too,  gave  it  up  and  adjourned  to  meet  in 
Baltimore,  June  i8th.  May  9th,  there  met  in  Balti- 
more a  convention  of  elderly  Whigs  and  "  Know- 
Nothings,"  who  nominated  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee, 
for  President,  and  Edward  Everett,  of  Massachusetts, 
for  Vice-President.  This  was  the  so-called  conserva- 
tive ticket,  intended  to  pour  oil  on  the  troubled  waters, 
and  elect  a  President  who  should  have  no  ideas,  no 
notions,  no  policy,  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 


Elected  to  the.  Presidency  127 

The  Richmond  Convention,  composed  of  pro-slavery 
Democrats,  nominated  John  C.  Breckinridge,  after- 
wards a  rebel  general,  for  President.  Subsequently, 
the  regular  convention,  as  it  was  to  be  considered 
(although  only  the  anti-Lincoln  Democrats  were  left  in 
it)  met  in  Baltimore,  and  nominated  Stephen  A.  Doug- 
las for  President.  The  breach  between  the  Northern 
and  Southern  Democrats  was  complete,  irreparable. 

There  was  intense  excitement  all  over  the  Republic 
when  the  Republican  national  convention  assembled 
in  Chicago,  June  17,  i860.  Everybody  felt  that  a 
crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation  had  now  come.  The 
Democratic  party  was  hopelessly  divided  on  the  great 
and  vital  question  of  human  slavery.  The  States  in 
which  slavery  was  recognized  as  a  divine  and  righteous 
institution  were  solidly  united  in  an  attempt  to  force 
that  institution  into  the  free  Territories,  and  so  to 
shape  the  laws  of  the  Republic  that  slave  property 
would  be  safe  evervwhere  ;  that  black  men  and  women 
should  be  sacred  as  property  in  every  State  in  the 
Union,  and  no  fugitive  from  bondage  should  be  safe 
anywhere  on  any  rood  of  land  over  which  the  Ameri- 
can flag  waved. 

The  party  now  about  to  set  its  candidates  in  the  field 
was  irrevocably  opposed  to  the  further  extension  of 
slavery  in  any  direction  whatever.  No  man  could  be 
nominated  by  that  party  who  was  not  irretrievably  and 
unmistakably  in  favor  of  the  fundamental  principle  to 
which,  through  I^incoln's  advice,  it  had  been  already 
pledged,  that  *'  all  men  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness." 

The  platform  was  accepted,  and  the  whole  series  of 
ringing  and  courageous  resolutions  was  adopted  by 


128  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  convention  amid  the  wildest  enthusiasm.  A  tre- 
mendous roar  went  up  from  the  assembled  thousands 
in  the  building.  Other  throngs  outside  the  building 
took  up  the  cheer,  and  a  vast  wave  of  sound  went 
thundering  down  the  lakeside,  telling  the  world  that 
at  last  a  great  national  party  had  asserted  in  unmis- 
takable language  the  right  of  man  to  freedom. 

Then  the  balloting  began.  Mr.  William  M.  Evarts, 
of  New  York,  placed  before  the  convention  the  name 
of  William  H.  Seward,  of  that  State.  In  like  manner 
Mr.  Judd,  of  Illinois,  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln. 
Mr.  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey  ;  Simon  Cameron,  of 
Pennsylvania  ;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio  ;  Edward 
Bates,  of  Missouri  ;  and  John  McLean,  of  Ohio,  were 
subsequently  named.  But  only  the  names  of  Seward 
and  Lincoln,  the  two  great  leaders  of  the  new  party, 
provoked  much  enthusiasm. 

The  air  was  hushed.  Everybody  knew  that  the 
supreme  moment  had  arrived.  The  roll  of  the  States 
was  called  for  the  first  ballot.  It  was  evident  that  this 
would  be  inconclusive  ;  but  every  ear  was  strained  to 
catch  the  slightest  whisper  from  the  delegations.  Now 
and  again,  a  roar  of  applause  would  break  forth,  as  if 
the  delegates  were  unable  to  restrain  themselves,  so 
intense  was  their  desire  to  hear  the  result  from  each 
other.  Such  a  burst  w^ent  up  when  New  York  cast  her 
seventy  votes  for  Seward,  the  well-beloved  son  of  the 
Empire  State !  And  such  a  burst  shook  the  air  when 
Indiana  and  Illinois  gave  their  solid  votes  to  Lincoln! 
The  first  ballot  was  as  follows  :  William  H.  Seward, 
one  hundred  and  seventy-three  and  a  half  ;  Abraham 
Lincoln,  one  hundred  and  two  ;  Edward  Bates,  forty- 
eight  ;  Simon  Cameron,  fifty  and  a  half ;  Salmon  P. 
Chase,    forty-nine.      The  remaining   forty-two  votes 


Elected  to  the  Presidency  129 

were  scattered  among  John  McLean,  Benjamin  F. 
Wade,  William  L.  Dayton,  John  M.  Reed,  Jacob  Col- 
lamer,  Charles  Sumner,  and  John  C.  Fremont.  There 
was  no  choice,  two  hundred  and  thirty -three  of  the 
total  four  hundred  and  sixty-five  votes  cast  being  ne- 
cessary to  nominate. 

On  the  second  ballot,  Lincoln  gained  seventy-nine 
votes  from  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, receiving  one  hundred  and  eighty-one,  all  told. 
Seward  gained  eleven,  having  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  and  a  half,  all  told.  The  third  ballot  began  amid 
the  most  intense  interest,  for  all  felt  that  this  must  de- 
termine the  contest.  Thousands  on  the  floor  and  in 
the  galleries  followed  the  ballotings  with  their  pencils, 
silently  keeping  tally  of  the  votes  as  they  were  an- 
nounced to  the  chairman  by  the  spokesmen  of  the 
several  delegations  of  the  States.  Before  the  secre- 
taries could  figure  up  and  verify  the  result,  it  was 
whispered  about  the  convention,  which  fairly  trembled 
with  suppressed  excitement,  that  Lincoln  had  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  and  a  half  votes,  lacking  only  a 
vote  and  a  half  of  the  nomination.  Then,  while  the 
house  was  as  still  as  if  it  were  empty,  Mr.  Carter,  of 
Ohio,  rose  and  said  that  four  of  the  votes  of  that  State 
were  changed  to  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  work  was 
done.      Lincoln  was  nominated. 

Men  flung  away  their  hats,  danced  in  a  wild  delirium 
of  delight,  hugged  and  kissed  each  other,  and  cheered 
and  cheered  again,  as  if  they  could  find  no  vent  to 
their  overpowering  joy.  The  vast  Wigwam  shook 
with  the  torrent  of  noise.  Without,  surging  crowds 
broke  forth  into  answering  roars  as  the  cheering  inside 
died  away,  and  this  was  taken  up  by  those  within,  and 
thus  tumult  replied  to  tumult.     On  the  roof  of  a  great 


130  Abraham  Lincoln 

hotel,  not  far  away,  a  battery  of  cannon  volleyed  and 
thundered  ;  the  multitudinous  wave  of  sound  spread 
through  the  city,  its  streets  and  lanes,  and  drifted  far 
over  Lake  Michigan,  telling  the  world  that  Lincoln, 
the  beloved,  the  great,  grand  man,  scarce  known  out- 
side of  his  own  country,  was  nominated.  And  in  this 
way,  the  son  of  Thomas  Lincoln,  the  backwoodsman, 
stepped  out  upon  the  mighty  stage  on  which  was  to  be 
enacted  one  of  the  most  tremendous  tragedies  the  world 
has  ever  seen. 

The  convention  adjourned  for  an  hour,  and,  later  in 
the  day,  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  was  nominated 
for  Vice-President  with  Lincoln.  At  home,  in  Spring- 
field, Lincoln  waited  in  a  newspaper  office,  surrounded 
by  friends,  for  the  news  that  should  make  him  the 
national  candidate  of  his  party,  or  place  him  on  the  re- 
tired list  of  American  politicians.  At  last,  a  messenger, 
bearing  the  fateful  message  in  his  hand,  came  in  from 
the  telegraph  office.  With  great  solemnity  he  ad- 
vanced  to  Lincoln's  side  and  said  : 

* '  The  convention  has  made  a  nomination,  and 
Seward  is — the  second  man  on  the  list. ' '  Then  j  ump- 
ing  on  a  table,  he  cried  :  ' '  Three  cheers  for  Abraham 
Lincoln,  the  next  President  of  the  United  States  !  " 

We  can  imagine  with  what  a  hearty  good-will  those 
cheers  were  given,  and  how  the  notes  thereof  rang  out 
in  the  streets  of  Springfield  and  were  echoed  far  and 
wide.  After  shaking  hands  with  his  friends  and  re- 
ceiving their  fervent  congratulations,  Lincoln  pocketed 
the  telegram,  and,  saying  **  There  is  a  little  woman 
on  Eighth  Street  who  would  like  to  hear  about  this," 
walked  home  to  tell  the  news  to  his  household. 

It  was  the  duty  of  the  convention  to  give  Lincoln 
formal  and  official  notice  of  his  nomination.     A  com- 


Elected  to  the  .Presidency  131 

mittee,  with  Mr.  George  Ashmiin,  of  Massachusetts,  at 
its  head,  was  accordingly  appointed  to  wait  upon  the 
nominee  and  serve  him  with  the  usual  notice.  Mean- 
time, however,  the  citizens  of  Springfield  had  fired  a 
salute  of  one  hundred  guns,  and  a  vast  concourse  of 
the  people  streamed  up  the  street  to  Lincoln's  humble 
cottage,  eager  to  take  his  hand  and  tell  him  how  glad 
they  were  that  this  great  honor  had  been  laid  upon 
him.  Some  of  his  devoted  Springfield  admirers,  think- 
ing that  a  delegation  from  the  great  national  convention 
would  expect  to  receive  a  more  liberal  supply  of  re- 
freshment than  the  total  abstainers  of  the  Lincoln 
family  would  be  likely  to  have  in  the  house,  sent  him 
a  supply  of  wines  for  this  occasion.  These  unfamiliar 
fluids  gave  Lincoln  some  uneasiness,  and  he  sent  them 
to  their  donors,  with  a  courteous  explanation  of  his 
inability  to  use  them.  He  had  never  offered  wines  to 
his  friends  ;  he  could  not  do  it  now.  The  committee 
arrived.  They  drank  the  health  of  the  President  that 
was  to  be,  in  water  from  the  spring. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  Lincoln  wrote  a  formal  letter 
accepting  the  nomination  to  the  presidency.  It  was  a 
very  short  and  straightforward  document.  He  ac- 
cepted the  platform  of  principles  laid  down  by  the 
convention  and  concluded  in  the  following  words  : 
**  Imploring  the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence,  and 
with  due  regard  to  the  views  and  feelings  of  all  who 
were  represented  in  the  convention,  to  the  rights  of  all 
the  States  and  Territories  and  people  of  the  nation,  to 
the  inviolability  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  perpetual 
union,  harmony,  and  prosperity  of  all,  I  am  most  happy 
to  co-operate  for  the  practical  success  of  the  principles 
declared  by  the  convention." 

The  presidential  canvass  of  that  year  was  unique  in 


132  Abraham   Lincoln 

the  history  of  the  American  Republic.  The  friends  of 
freedom  organized  semi-military  companies,  the  like  of 
which  have  appeared  in  political  campaigns  since  that 
day.  These  were  called  "  Wide-awakes,"  and,  uni- 
formed and  carrying  torches  at  night,  or  bannerets  in 
the  daytime,  they  turned  out  in  vast  numbers  when- 
ever there  was  a  demonstration  by  the  Republicans  ; 
and  this  was  very  often.  Campaign  songs  were  com- 
posed, set  to  music,  and  sung  all  over  the  North,  the 
rousing  choruses  being  taken  up  and  made  as  familiar 
to  everybody  as  hoUvSehold  words.  The  log  cabin  of  the 
Harrison  campaign  was  brought  out  to  do  duty  again 
as  a  token  of  the  humble  origin  of  the  candidate. 
Rails  and  rail -splitting  were  popular  symbols,  and  in- 
numerable devices  were  invented  to  rouse  to  a  still 
higher  pitch  the  fervor  of  the  Republicans,  and  to  sweep 
into  the  on-rushing  wave  the  halting  and  the  vacillating. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  there  was  no  opposi- 
tion to  Lincoln.  Douglas,  to  the  surprise  of  many  of 
his  best  friends  and  followers,  took  the  stump  in  his 
own  behalf.  It  had  never  been  the  custom  for  a  presi- 
dential candidate  to  speak  in  advocacy  of  his  own  elec- 
tion, although  men  had  often  done  this,  especially  in 
the  West,  when  they  were  candidates  for  ICvSS  important 
offices.  His  speeches  were  designed  to  prove  that  he 
was  the  only  safe  candidate  before  the  people,  Breck- 
inridge representing  the  sectionalism  of  slavery,  and 
Lincoln  the  sectionalism  of  anti-slavery  ;  but  it  ap- 
peared that  both  sections  of  the  country  had  resolved 
to  have  no  more  experiments.  This  time  the  question 
of  slavery  extension  or  slavery  limitation  was  to  be 
settled  forever. 

Lincoln  stayed  quietly  at  home,  although  he  was 
sometimes  well-nigh  overwhelmed  with  visitors  from 


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Elected  to  the  Presidency  133 

every  part  of  the  Union.  Some  of  these  came  from  idle 
curiosity  ;  some  to  put  in  a  good  word  for  themselves, 
in  case  the  candidate  should  be  chosen  and  have  offices 
to  fill.  Others  came  honestly  encouraging  the  candi- 
date, now  widely  celebrated  and  so  greatly  loved  as  a 
man  of  the  people.  A  handsome  room  in  the  State 
Capitol  was  assigned  to  Lincoln,  and  here  he  received 
his  visitors  during  the  exciting  months  that  intervened 
between  the  nomination  in  June  and  the  election  in 
November;  but  he  made  no  speeches,  and  refrained, 
with  his  usual  wisdom,  from  making  any  public  demon- 
stration whatever. 

When  the  votes  were  in,  at  the  end  of  that  famous 
canvass,  it  was  found  that  Lincoln  had  one  hundred 
and  eighty  of  the  electoral  votes  of  the  States  ;  and 
1,866,452  men  had  voted  for  him.  Breckinridge  had 
seventy-two  electoral  votes  ;  and  he  had  been  the  ex- 
press choice  of  847,953  voters.  Douglas  had  twelve 
electoral  votes  ;  his  popular  vote  was  1,375,157.  Bell 
had  thirty-nine  electoral  votes,  and  a  popular  vote  of 
590,631.  Lincoln  had  received  a  majority  of  the  elec- 
toral votes,  but  it  will  be  noticed  that  he  had  not  a 
majority  of  all  the  votes  of  the  people,  the  four  candi- 
dates in  the  field  having  divided  the  popular  votes  un- 
usually ;  but,  notwithstanding  this,  he  had  the  largest 
popular  vote  that  had  been  polled,  at  that  time,  for  any 
presidential  candidate. 

Lincoln  took  his  election  with  a  composure  not  un- 
tinged  with  sadness.  A  tremendous  responsibility  was 
now  certain  to  be  placed  upon  him.  The  South  had 
openly  and  repeatedly  declared  an  intention  to  break 
up  the  Union  by  leaving  it,  in  case  of  the  election  of 
the  Republican  candidate.  He  was  oppressed  with 
many  weighty  and  anxious  thoughts.      On  the  day 


134  Abraham  Lincoln 

when  the  news  came  of  his  triumph,  a  strange  thing 
happened  to  him.  He  told  this  story  to  the  writer  of 
these  pages  : 

"  It  was  just  after  my  election  in  i860,  when  the 
news  had  been  coming  in  thick  and  fast  all  day,  and 
there  had  been  a  great  '  Hurrah,  boys  !  '  so  that  I  was 
well  tired  out,  and  went  home  to  rest,  throwing  myself 
down  on  a  lounge  in  my  chamber.  Opposite  where  I 
lay  was  a  bureau,  with  a  swinging  glass  upon  it — 
[and  here  he  got  up  and  placed  furniture  to  illustrate 
the  position] — and,  looking  in  that  glass,  I  saw  my- 
self reflected,  nearly  at  full  length  ;  but  my  face,  I 
noticed,  had  two  separate  and  distinct  images,  the  tip 
of  the  nose  of  one  being  about  three  inches  from  the 
tip  of  the  other.  I  w^as  a  little  bothered,  perhaps 
startled,  and  got  up  and  looked  in  the  glass,  but  the 
illusion  vanished.  On  lying  down  again  I  saw  it  a 
second  time  —  plainer,  if  possible,  than  before  ;  and 
then  I  noticed  that  one  of  the  faces  was  a  little  paler, 
say  five  shades,  than  the  other.  I  got  up  and  the 
thing  melted  away,  and  I  went  off  and,  in  the  excite- 
ment of  the  hour,  forgot  all  about  it  —  nearly,  but  not 
quite,  for  the  thing  would  once  in  a  while  come  up, 
and  give  me  a  little  pang,  as  though  something  uncom- 
fortable had  happened.  I^ater  in  the  day,  I  told  my 
wife  about  it,  and  a  few  days  after  I  tried  the  experi- 
ment, when  [with  a  laugh],  sure  enough,  the  thing 
came  again  ;  but  I  never  succeeded  in  bringing  the 
ghost  back  after  that,  though  I  once  tried  very  indus- 
triously to  show  it  to  my  wife,  who  was  worried  about 
it  somewhat.  She  thought  it  was  *  a  sign  '  that  I  was 
to  be  elected  to  a  second  term  of  ofiSce,  and  that  the 
paleness  of  one  of  the  faces  was  an  omen  that  I  should 
not  see  life  through  the  last  term." 


CHAPTER  XV 

FROM  SPRINGFIKI.D  TO  WASHINGTON 

ON  the  nth  of  February,  1861,  Lincoln,  accom- 
panied by  his  family  and  a  few  personal  friends, 
left  his  modest  and  happy  home  in  Springfield  for  the 
national  capital.  Already,  threats  of  assassination  had 
been  whispered  abroad,  and  it  had  been  boasted  by  the 
enemies  of  the  Union  that  Lincoln  would  never  reach 
Washington  alive.  In  any  case,  the  certain  approach 
of  war  was  now  a  matter  weighing  on  every  heart,  and 
the  man  who  was  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  nation, 
under  God,  was  bowed  down  with  this  great  anxiety, 
as  he  bade  farewell  to  his  fellow-townsmen. 

*'  My  friends,  no  one,  not  in  my  situation,  can  ap- 
preciate my  feeling  of  sadness  at  this  parting.  To  this 
place,  and  the  kindness  of  these  people,  I  owe  every- 
thing. Here  I  have  lived  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and 
have  passed  from  a  young  to  an  old  man.  Here  my 
children  have  been  born,  and  one  is  buried.  I  now 
leave,  not  knowing  when  or  whether  ever  I  may  return, 
with  a  task  before  me  greater  than  that  which  rested 
upon  Washington.  Without  the  assistance  of  that 
Divine  Being  who  ever  attended  him,  I  cannot  suc- 
ceed. With  that  assistance,  I  cannot  fail.  Trusting 
in  Him  who  can  go  with  me,  and  remain  with  you, 
and  be  everywhere  for  good,  let  us  confidently  hope 
that  all  will  yet  be  well.     To  His  care  commending 

135 


136  Abraham  Lincoln 

you,  as  I  hope  in  your  prayers  you  will  commend  me, 
I  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell." 

Passing  from  Illinois  on  his  way  to  the  national  cap- 
ital, Lincoln  traversed  the  States  of  Indiana,  Ohio, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland. 
Enthusiasm  and  curiosity  combined  to  draw  prodigious 
crowds  to  the  stations  through  which  his  train  passed, 
or  stopped.  The  outpouring  of  the  people  was  some- 
thing unprecedented. 

At  Indianapolis,  where  he  was  greeted  with  great 
acclamation,  and  was  escorted  to  his  hotel  by  a  proces- 
sion of  the  members  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  he 
said  a  few  words  about  **  invasion  "  and  ''  coercion." 
At  that  time  these  phrases  were  on  every  man's  lips. 
It  had  been  expressly  declared  by  those  who  were 
President  Buchanan's  legal  advisers  that  it  was 
neither  lawful,  nor  constitutional,  nor  possible,  for  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  to  "coerce"  any 
State  that  chose  to  leave  the  Union.  Coercion,  they 
said,  was  wrong,  and  the  invasion  of  a  State  was  un- 
constitutional and  wicked,  even  treasonable.  Lincoln 
said  : 

**  What,  then,  is  *  coercion  '  ?  What  is  '  invasion '  ? 
Would  the  marching  of  an  army  into  South  Carolina, 
without  the  consent  of  her  people,  and  with  hostile  in- 
tent toward  them,  be  invasion  ?  I  certainly  think  it 
would,  and  it  would  be  coercion  also  if  the  South  Caro- 
linians w^ere  forced  to  submit.  But  if  the  United 
States  should  merely  hold  and  retake  its  own  forts  and 
other  property,  and  collect  the  duties  on  foreign  im- 
portations, or  even  withhold  the  mails  from  places 
where  they  were  habitually  violated,  would  any  or  all 
of  these  things  be  invasion  or  coercion  ?  .  .  .  Upon 
what  principle,  what  rightful  principle,  may  a  State, 


From  Springfield  to  Washington      137 

being  no  more  than  one  fiftieth  part  of  the  nation  in 
soil  and  population,  break  up  the  nation,  and  then  co- 
erce a  proportionably  larger  subdivision  of  itself  in  the 
same  way  ? ' ' 

At  other  points,  Lincoln  was  called  upon  to  address 
the  throngs  that  pressed  to  see  him,  to  hear  his  voice. 
Thus  at  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana,  he  said,  in  the 
course  of  a  very  brief  speech  :  ' '  Let  me  tell  you  that 
if  the  people  remain  right,  your  public  men  can  never 
betray  you.  If,  in  my  brief  term  of  office,  I  shall  be 
wicked  or  foolish,  if  you  remain  right  and  true  and 
honest,  you  cannot  be  betrayed.  My  power  is  tempo- 
rary and  fleeting ;  yours  as  eternal  as  the  principles  of 
liberty." 

At  Cincinnati,  the  great  city  of  Ohio,  Lincoln  was 
almost  bodily  carried  to  his  hotel,  so  vast  was  the  pres- 
sure of  the  wave  of  people  that  surged  in  volumes 
through  the  gaily  decorated  streets.  At  night  the 
buildings  were  illuminated,  and  the  city  wore  a  festal 
appearance  while  the  party  tarried.  Lincoln  made  a 
little  speech,  full  of  good  feeling  ;  and,  as  he  was  now 
on  the  borders  of  Kentucky,  a  slave  State,  he  addressed 
himself  to  Kentuckians,  his  old-time  friends,  with  pe- 
culiar warmth  and  tenderness. 

In  this  way,  making  an  enthusiastic  progress,  but 
constantly  pleading  for  peace,  good-will,  forbearance, 
and  patriotic  concessions  to  the  righteousness  of  the 
cause  of  liberty,  Lincoln  approached  the  scene  of  his 
future  labors.  He  would  have  hurried  on  to  Washing- 
ton but  for  the  fact,  more  clear  in  his  own  mind  than 
in  the  minds  of  others,  that  this  was  his  last  oppor- 
tunity to  say  a  few  words  to  ' '  the  plain  people, ' '  on 
whom  he  relied  so  thoroughly,  and  in  whose  patriotism 
he  confided  so  much.     '*  If  we  don't  all  join  now  to 


138  Abraham  Lincoln 

save  the  good  old  ship  of  the  Union  this  voyage,  no- 
body will  have  a  chance  to  pilot  her  on  another  voy- 
age, ' '  he  added  in  his  speech  at  Pittsburg,  having  in 
mind  the  stanza  of  Longfellow's  Building  of  the  Ship, 
which  later  he  was  fond  of  reciting  : 

Thou,  too,  sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State ! 

Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great ! 
Humanity  with  all  its  fears, 
With  all  the  hopes  of  future  years, 

Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate  ! 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  nomination  for  the  presidency, 
Lincoln's  face  was  clean-shaven.  As  his  neck  was  long 
and  his  cheeks  rather  hollow  and  dusky,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  advice  given  him  by  an  unknown  ad- 
mirer, during  the  campaign,  was  very  good.  A  young 
girl,  writing  from  North  Bast,  a  station  between  Erie, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Buffalo,  New  York,  counselled  him 
that  if  he  would  let  his  whiskers  grow  he  would  look 
very  much  better.  Lincoln  followed  her  advice,  and, 
bearing  in  mind  the  name  of  the  place  whence  the 
writer  had  advised  him,  he  now  asked  that  a  stop  be 
made  there.  In  response  to  the  tumultuous  greeting 
of  the  assembled  crowds,  he  said,  after  a  few  words, 
that  he  had  received  a  letter  from  a  fair  young  towns- 
woman  of  theirs,  who,  among  other  things,  had  urged 
him  to  raise  whiskers,  and  that  he  had,  as  they  could 
see,  followed  her  counsel.  If  she  were  in  the  assem- 
blage before  him,  he  would  be  glad  to  welcome  her. 
In  answer  to  this  unexpected  request,  a  blushing  little 
damsel  made  her  way  to  the  President,  was  assisted  to 
the  platform  of  the  railway  car,  and  kissed  by  the 
President-elect,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  crowd,  who 
cheered  heartily  as  Lincoln  and  his  young  corre- 
spondent met  for  the  first  time  and  the  last. 


From  Springfield  to  Washington      139 

I^incoln  spoke  at  Albany  on  the  invitation  of  the 
State,  tendered  him  by  the  Hon.  K.  D.  Morgan,  soon 
to  be  known  as  the  generous  and  patriotic  ' '  War  Gov- 
ernor ' '  of  the  Empire  State.  He  said  that  he  was 
awed  by  the  influences  of  the  place  in  which  he  spoke, 
associated  as  it  was  in  his  mind  with  some  of  the  great 
men  of  the  nation.  "It  is  true  that,  while  I  hold 
mj^self,  without  mock  modesty,  the  humblest  of  all  the 
individuals  who  have  ever  been  elected  Presidents  of 
the  United  States,  I  yet  have  a  more  difficult  task  to 
perform  than  any  one  of  them  has  encountered." 
Then,  alluding  to  the  prevailing  anxiety  to  hear  some 
exposition  of  his  future  policy,  he  said  :  *'  I  deem  it 
just  to  the  country,  to  myself,  to  you,  that  I  should 
see  everything,  hear  everything,  and  have  every  light 
that  can  possibly  be  brought  within  my  reach,  to  aid 
me  before  I  shall  speak  officially,  in  order  that,  when 
I  do  speak,  I  may  have  the  best  means  of  taking  true 
and  correct  grounds. ' ' 

Under  very  different  circumstances  from  those  of  his 
last  visit  did  I^incoln  now  return  to  the  chief  city  of 
the  Republic.  Then  he  was  comparatively  a  stranger  ; 
his  address  at  Cooper  Union  had  been  his  introduction 
to  the  people  of  the  Eastern  States.  Now  he  came  as 
the  choice  of  the  nation,  the  elected  chief  magistrate  of 
the  Republic.  At  that  time,  Fernando  Wood  was 
Mayor  of  New  York.  In  his  address  of  welcome  Mr. 
Wood  dwelt  with  some  emphasis  on  the  fact  that  New 
York  was  the  chief  port,  as  well  as  the  chief  city,  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  it  was  greatly  concerned  that 
there  should  be  peace  always  ;  he  said  that  war  would 
be  destructive  of  its  highest  interests.  In  his  response, 
I,incoln  said  that  the  whole  country,  as  well  as  the  great 
city  of  New  York,  was  concerned  in  the  preservation 


140  Abraham  Lincoln 

of  that  Union  under  which  all  the  States  had  acquired 
their  due  measure  of  greatness. 

'*  I  understand,"  he  said,  "  the  ship  to  be  made  for 
the  carrying  and  the  preservation  of  the  cargo,  and  so 
long  as  the  ship  can  be  saved  with  the  cargo,  it  should 
never  be  abandoned,  unless  there  appears  to  be  no  pos- 
sibility of  its  preservation  and  it  must  cease  to  exist, 
except  at  the  risk  of  throwing  overboard  both  freight 
and  passengers.  So  long,  then,  as  it  is  possible  that 
the  prosperity  and  the  liberties  of  the  people  be  pre- 
served in  this  Union,  it  shall  be  my  purpose  at  all 
times  to  use  all  my  powers  to  aid  in  its  perpetuation." 

At  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  Lincoln  recalled  to  the 
minds  of  the  people  before  him  the  fact  that  very  few 
among  the  thirteen  original  States  had  more  battle- 
fields within  their  limits  than  New  Jersey.  And  he 
added  : 

''  May  I  be  pardoned  if,  upon  this  occasion,  I  men- 
tion that,  away  back  in  my  childhood,  the  earliest  days 
of  my  being  able  to  read,  I  got  hold  of  a  small  book, 
such  a  one  as  few  of  these  younger  members  have  ever 
seen,  Weems's  Life  of  Washington.  I  remember  all 
the  accounts  there  given  of  the  battle-fields  and  strug- 
gles for  the  liberties  of  the  country,  and  none  fixed 
themselves  upon  my  imagination  so  deeply  as  the 
struggle  here  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  The  crossing 
of  the  river,  the  contest  with  the  Hessians,  the  great 
hardships  endured  at  that  time —  all  fixed  themselves 
on  my  memory  more  than  any  single  Revolutionary 
event  ;  and  you  know,  for  you  hav^e  all  been  boys, 
how  these  early  impressions  last  longer  than  any 
others.  I  recollect  thinking  then,  bo}^  even  though  I 
was,  that  there  must  have  been  more  than  common 
that  those  men  struggled  for.     I  am  exceedingly  anx- 


From  Springfield  to  Washington      141 

ious  that  that  thing  they  struggled  for  ;  that  something 
even  more  than  national  independence  ;  that  something 
that  held  out  a  great  promise  to  all  the  people  of  the 
world  to  all  time  to  come  —  I  am  exceedingly  anxious 
that  this  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  liberties  of 
the  people  shall  be  perpetuated  in  accordance  with  the 
original  idea  for  which  the  struggle  was  made  ;  and  I 
shall  be  most  happy  indeed,  if  I  shall  be  an  humble 
instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Almighty,  and  of  this. 
His  almost  chosen  people,  for  perpetuating  the  object 
of  that  great  struggle. ' ' 

There  had  been  vague  rumors  and  suspicions  afloat 
concerning  a  conspiracy  to  assassinate  the  President- 
elect. Personal  friends  employed  detectives  to  follow 
up  the  slight  clues  which  were  given  them,  and  it  was 
absolutely  settled  that  there  was  a  plot  to  assassinate 
Lincoln  as  he  passed  through  Baltimore.  At  the  same 
time,  Gen.  Winfield  Scott,  then  commanding  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  was  by  his  secret  agents  apprised 
of  the  existence  of  the  plot  aforementioned.  Here  were 
two  independent  sources  of  information ;  still  Lincoln 
was  unwilling  to  believe  that  any  attempt  would  be 
made  to  wajday  and  murder  him. 

He  had  agreed  to  meet  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia 
at  Independence  Hall,  and  to  raise  a  flag  over  that 
historic  building  on  Washington's  Birthday,  February 
22d.  He  had  also  accepted  an  invitation  to  meet  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  at  Harrisburg,  the  State 
capital,  on  the  afternoon  of  that  day.  To  all  expostu- 
lations and  advice,  the  President-elect  said  :  **  Both  of 
these  appointments  I  shall  keep,  if  it  costs  me  my 
life."  The  flag-raising  took  place  as  previously  ar- 
ranged. With  cheerfulness  and  dignity,  Lincoln  made 
an  admirable  address.     Standing  in  the  room  where 


142  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  immortal  Declaration  was  signed,  lie  pleaded  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  doctrines  of  universal  liberty. 
"  If  this  country  cannot  be  saved  without  giving  up 
that  principle,  I  was  about  to  say  I  would  rather  be 
assassinated  on  this  spot  than  surrender  it." 

Later  in  the  day,  when  Lincoln  addressed  the  as- 
sembled Legislature  of  the  State,  in  Harrisburg,  he 
said,  speaking  of  the  flag-raising  that  followed  his 
speech  of  the  morning  : 

**  Our  friends  there  had  provided  a  magnificent  flag 
of  the  country.  They  had  arranged  it  so  that  I  was 
given  the  honor  of  raising  it  to  the  head  of  its  staff. 
And  when  it  went  up  I  was  pleased  that  it  went  to  its 
place  by  the  strength  of  my  own  feeble  arm.  When, 
according  to  the  arrangement,  the  cord  was  pulled, 
and  it  flaunted  gloriously  to  the  wind  without  an  ac- 
cident, in  the  bright,  glowing  sunshine  of  the  morning, 
I  could  not  help  hoping  that  there  was  in  the  entire 
success  of  that  beautiful  ceremony  at  least  something 
of  an  omen  of  what  is  to  come.  Nor  could  I  help  feel- 
ing then,  as  I  often  have  felt,  that  in  the  whole  of  that 
proceeding  I  was  a  very  humble  instrument.  I  had 
not  provided  the  flag  ;  I  had  not  made  the  arrange- 
ments for  elevating  it  to  its  place.  I  had  applied  but 
a  very  small  portion  of  my  feeble  strength  in  raising 
it.  In  the  whole  transaction  I  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  people  who  had  arranged  it  ;  and  if  I  can  have 
the  same  generous  co-operation  of  the  people  of  the 
nation,  I  think  the  flag  of  our  country  may  yet  be  kept 
flaunting  gloriously. ' ' 

The  general  expectation  was  that  Lincoln,  with  the 
party  that  had  come  on  from  the  West  with  him,  would 
take  a  late  train  that  night  for  Washington,  passing 
through  Baltimore.     In  order  to  frustrate  the  plans  of 


From  Springfield  to  Washington      143 

the  conspirators,  it  was  privately  arranged  that  he 
should  take  an  earlier  train  and  depart  from  Harrisburg 
without  the  usual  public  announcement  being  given  by 
telegraph.  Accordingly,  the  telegraph  wires  were  cut 
in  every  direction.  Harrisburg  was  isolated  from  the 
rest  of  the  country,  so  far  as  this  means  of  communica- 
tion was  concerned,  and  Lincoln,  accompanied  by  two 
or  three  devoted  personal  friends,  took  a  special  train 
to  Philadelphia,  drove  at  once  to  the  railway  station, 
found  ready  the  Washington  train,  and  so  passed 
through  Baltimore  hours  before  he  was  expected  to 
arrive  there. 

There  have  been  many  absurd  stories  circulated  since 
then  as  to  Lincoln  being  compelled  to  assume  a  disguise 
for  this  dangerous  part  of  the  journe5^  It  is  sufficiently 
disgraceful  to  the  Republic  of  the  United  States,  that 
its  lawfully  elected  chief  magistrate  should  have  been 
put  in  danger  of  his  life  when  proceeding  from  his 
home  to  the  seat  of  government.  Speaking  of  this 
episode  long  afterwards,  Lincoln  said:  "I  did  not  then, 
nor  do  I  now,  believe  I  should  have  been  assassinated 
had  I  gone  through  Baltimore,  as  first  contemplated, 
but  I  thought  it  wise  to  run  no  risk  where  no  risk  was 
necessary. ' ' 

The  people  of  Washington  were  surprised,  early  on 
the  morning  of  February  23,  1861,  to  find  that  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  so  soon  to  be  President,  had  arrived  safely. 
His  family  came  on  soon  after  him,  and  the  party  were 
installed  at  temporary  quarters  in  a  hotel,  pending  his 
formal  inauguration  into  the  great  ofiice  to  which  he 
had  been  chosen. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
i.incoi.n's  inauguration 

TREASON  lurked  in  every  quarter.  Not  only  were 
the  departments  of  the  government  and  the  halls 
of  Congress  poisoned  by  the  presence  of  open  or  secret 
rebels,  but  many  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  were 
ready  to  serve  in  the  ranks  of  the  seceders.  Some  of 
these  had  already  accepted  appointments  and  commis- 
sions from  the  so-called  "  Confederate  States  of  Amer- 
ica, ' '  while  they  were  yet  in  the  service  of  the  Republic. 
Men  distrusted  each  other.  Spies  were  known  to  be 
about,  and  suspicions  of  a  plot  to  assassinate  the  Presi- 
dent-elect were  rife.  Even  while  the  eager  throngs 
surged  about  the  platform,  high  above  their  heads,  on 
which  Lincoln  stood  with  his  friends  around  him,  many 
a  man  half  expected  that  he  might  hear  a  gunshot,  or 
see  a  sudden  rush  of  conspirators  from  the  marble  col- 
onnades that  formed  the  picturesque  background  of 
the  scene. 

It  was  a  notable  gathering  of  men  that  was  assembled 
about  Lincoln  when  he  was  inaugurated  President  of 
the  United  States,  March  4,  1861.  Among  these  were 
many  whose  names  will  always  hold  place  in  the  history 
of  our  country.  James  Buchanan,  the  weak  and  irreso- 
lute, was  just  relinquishing  the  reins  of  government  to 
the  new  man  "  from  the  West."  Taney,  Chief-Justice 
of  the  United  States,  whose  name  is  forever  linked 

144 


Lincoln's  Inauguration  145 

with  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  administered  the  oath  of 
office  to  the  incoming  President.  W.  H.  Seward, 
formerly  Governor  of,  and  then  Senator  from,  New 
York,  soon  to  be  Secretary  of  State,  was  there.  Sena- 
tors Sumner  and  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  early  Free 
Soilers,  and  each  destined  to  occupy  prominent  places 
in  the  management  of  public  affairs,  were  also  there. 
Senator  ' '  Ben ' '  Wade,  of  Ohio,  another  Free  Soil 
leader  ;  General  Scott,  the  great  military  leader  of  the 
time  ;  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  lyincoln's  old  rival  ;  Ed- 
ward D.  Baker,  Lincoln's  friend  and  dearly  beloved 
companion,  and  many  more  who  were  either  famous 
then  or  subsequently  became  so, —  these  all  formed  a 
group  of  historic  interest.  The  ceremony  of  inaugura- 
tion took  place  on  a  platform  constructed  at  the  east 
front  of  the  Capitol,  then  not  fully  finished,  overlooking 
a  large  and  open  esplanade,  at  the  outer  verge  of  which 
a  marble  statue  of  Washington  shone  whitely  in  the 
brilliant  sunshine.  Curiosity  to  see  the  face  of  the  new 
President,  and  anxiety  to  hear  what  he  might  say, 
had  drawn  enormous  crowds  to  the  national  capital. 

In  the  midst  of  that  vast  concourse,  Lincoln  stood, 
calm,  dignified,  self-possessed,  undaunted,  and  un- 
shrinking. Many  people,  ardent  friends  and  followers 
of  Lincoln,  were  even  then  afraid  that  he  would  take 
what  they  called  a  "  radical  "  view  of  the  situation, 
and  would  say  something  to  anger  and  exasperate  the 
sullen  and  hostile  rebels.  They  were  needlessly 
alarmed.  Lincoln's  oration  was  a  model  of  a  generous, 
pleading,  kindly  address. 

**  Apprehension,"  he  said,  *'  seems  to  exist  among  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States  that,  by  the  accession  of 
a  Republican  administration,  their  property  and  their 
peace   and   personal   security  are   to  be  endangered. 


10 


146  Abraham  Lincoln 

There  never  has  been  any  reasonable  cause  for  such 
apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most  ample  evidence  to 
the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed,  and  been  open 
to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  pub- 
lished speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do 
but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches,  when  I  declare 
that  '  I  bave  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  in- 
terfere with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States 
where  it  exists.'  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to 
do  so.  Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me  did  so 
with  the  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made  this  and  many 
similar  declarations,  and  had  never  recanted  them." 

As  Lincoln's  voice,  trained  to  open-air  speaking, 
rang  out,  clear  and  resonant,  above  the  vast  throngs  of 
people  before  him,  the  feelings  of  those  who  heard  him 
were  deeply  stirred.  The  intense,  passionate  love  for 
the  Union  manifested  itself  in  spontaneous  cheering, 
whenever  any  allusion  to  that  sacred  compact  fell  on 
their  ears.  Everybody  hoped  for  the  best, — hoped  that 
tbe  Union  might  be  saved  and  war  averted.  Like 
Lincoln,  they  were  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  every 
honorable  device  to  keep  the  peace  and  avoid  war,  but 
likewise  they  were  determined  to  surrender  no  vital 
principle  for  the  sake  of  present  peace.  Lincoln's 
voice,  naturally  plaintive,  sounded  sadly  and  with 
pathetic  pleading,  as  he  drew  near  the  end  of  his 
address. 

*'  I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but 
friends.  We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion 
may  have  strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of 
affection.  The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching 
from  every  battle-field  and  patriot  grave  to  every  living 
heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet 
swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched, 


Lincoln's  Inauguration  147 

as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our 
nature." 

Among  those  who  pressed  about  President  lyincoln, 
when  he  had  solemnly  taken  his  oath  to  preserve,  pro- 
tect, and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  Republic,  was 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Ivincoln's  ancient  opponent  in  the 
field  of  politics.  When  I^incoln,  rising  to  begin  his 
address,  looked  about  for  a  place  to  bestow  his  head- 
covering,  he  caught  the  eye  of  Douglas,  who  immedi- 
ately reached  forward  and  took  it.  When  the  oration 
was  finished,  Douglas  restored  the  hat  to  its  owner, 
and  at  the  same  time  grasped  the  new  President's 
hand  and  warmly  assured  him  that  he  not  only  con- 
gratulated him  on  his  accession  to  high  office,  but 
pledged  him  that  he  would  stand  by  him  and  give  him 
hearty  support  in  upholding  the  Constitution  and  en- 
forcing the  laws  of  the  country.  The  two  men  clasped 
hands,  and  the  ''Sangamon  Chief"  and  the  *'  lyittle 
Giant ' '  of  Illinois  were  friends  ever  after. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

PRESIDENT   ABRAHAM   I,INCOI.N 

WHEN  he  installed  himself  in  the  White  House, 
the  official  residence  of  Presidents  of  the  United 
States,  Lincoln  found  that  two  lamentable  features  of 
affairs  were  really  not  wholly  objectionable,  from  one 
point  of  view.  He  was  surrounded  by  hordes  of  office- 
seekers  ;  the  country  was  on  the  brink  of  war.  Never- 
theless, with  his  ready  way  of  finding  something 
encouraging,  even  in  calamities,  he  said  that  if  the 
people  of  the  loyal  States  did  not  have  implicit  confi- 
dence in  the.  stability  of  the  Union  and  the  government 
they  would  not  flock  in  such  numbers  to  Washington 
to  hunt  for  places  under  that  government.  And, 
although  Buchanan's  administration  had  gone  out  of 
power  leaving  everything  in  the  wildest  confusion,  it 
had  left  no  policy  for  Lincoln  to  revoke  or  modify.  As 
he  expressed  it,  there  was  nothing  to  be  undone. 
Buchanan  had  merely  let  things  drift.  The  rebels, 
meanwhile,  had  been  busily  engaged  in  beginning  their 
so-called  Confederacy.  But  they  made  very  little  pro- 
gress. No  troops  had  been  sent  against  them.  They 
had  no  "  armed  invader"  to  repel,  as  they  had  ex- 
pected. Although  the  bulk  of  the  United  States  army 
was  practically  in  their  hands,  they  had  no  excuse  for 
fighting,  none  for  that  invasion  of  the  North  which 
their  leaders  had  promised  and  some  of  their  allies  iu 
the  free  States  had  expected. 

148 


President  Abraham  Lincoln  149 

The  rebel  Congress  assembled  at  Montgomery,  and, 
on  the  9tli  of  March,  1861,  passed  a  bill  for  the  organi- 
zation of  an  army.  This  was  an  insurrectionary  meas- 
ure, and  was  intended  to  draw  the  fire,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  government.  But  no  steps  were  taken  by  L^incoln. 
The  sentiment  in  the  South  was  overwhelmingly  in 
favor  of  beginning  active  hostilities  against  "  the  old 
Union,"  as  the  phrase  went.  The  leaders  were  deter- 
mined, if  possible,  to  trick  the  President  into  giving 
them  a  pretext  for  war.  On  his  part  he  was  equally 
determined  that  the  overt  act  for  which  everybody 
was  waiting,  and  about  which  everybody  was  talking, 
should  come  from  the  rebels. 

The  delay  was  exasperating  to  many  of  the  people 
of  the  loyal  States.  Men  clamored  for  "a  vigorous 
policy  "  ;  they  wanted  something  done,  and  they  could 
not  see  why  Lincoln  should  wait.  Especially  was  the 
attention  of  the  whole  people,  North  and  South,  fixed 
upon  Fort  Sumter,  where  Major  Robert  Anderson  was 
in  command  of  a  very  small  force  of  United  States 
troops.  The  rebels  regarded  the  occupation  of  that  fort 
as  a  standing  menace  to  the  city  of  Charleston,  and 
they  had,  moreover,  all  along  insisted  that  all  forts, 
arsenals,  and  other  public  property  of  the  United  States 
within  the  limits  of  the  so-called  Confederacy  were  now 
the  property  of  the  seceded  States,  being  their  "  share  " 
of  the  joint  property  of  the  now  divided  Union. 

This  Major  Anderson,  by  the  way,  as  Lieutenant 
Anderson,  swore  Abraham  Lincoln  into  the  military 
service  of  the  United  States  during  the  Black  Hawk 
War,  in  1832.  Since  that  time  many  changes  had  oc- 
curred. One  of  the  two  other  regular  oflScers  who 
were  then  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  Zachary  Taylor,  had  been 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  was  dead.     The 


150  Abraham  Lincoln 

third,  Jefferson  Davis,  was  President  of  the  rebel  Con- 
federacy. And  the  volunteer  captain  was  President  of 
the  United  States. 

Meanwhile,  Fort  Pickens,  in  the  harbor  of  Pensacola, 
had  been  relieved,  much  to  the  rage  of  the  rebels,  and 
Beauregard,  commanding  the  rebel  forces  at  Charles- 
ton, was  notified  that  Fort  Sumter  would  shortl}'  be 
provisioned.  This  would  be  an  act  of  humanity,  for 
the  garrison  were  suffering  from  lack  of  food.  But  the 
rebel  authorities  were  determined  to  consider  the  send- 
ing of  provisons  to  Sumter  as  that  "  overt  act"  for 
which  they  had  been  so  long  waiting.  Accordingly, 
Beauregard,  April  12th,  sent  a  message  to  Anderson 
demanding  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter,  and,  being 
refused,  he  opened  fire  on  Fort  Sumter  at  half-past  four 
in  the  morning  of  that  same  day. 

There  is  no  need  to  tell  here  of  the  noble  struggle  of 
that  handful  of  brave  men.  Nor  can  words  accurately 
describe  the  burst  of  patriotic  wrath  that  swept  over 
the  North  when  Sumter  fell.  Up  to  that  time,  there 
had  been  no  preparation  for  war.  Now,  in  conse- 
quence of  Lincoln's  long-suffering  forbearance  and 
his  wise  slowness,  the  first  gun  had  been  fired  by  the 
rebels.  The  North  was  all  aflame.  Party  ties  disap- 
peared. There  was  but  one  party, —  that  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Union,  the  defence  of  the  insulted 
Republic. 

Generosity  had  breathed  in  every  line  of  Lincoln's 
inaugural  address.  The  plea  for  peace,  while  it  was 
designed  to  appease  the  South,  had  the  effect  of  turning 
upon  the  rebel  leaders  the  responsibility  of  beginning 
and  inviting  hostilities.  Later,  when  Sumter  was  fired 
on,  and  President  Lincoln  issued  a  call  for  seventy-five 
thousand  troops,  he  declared,  with  the  utmost  consider- 


President  Abraham  Lincoln  151 

ation  for  the  feelings  as  well  as  the  asserted  rights  of 
the  Southerners,  *'  that  the  first  service  assigned  to  the 
force  hereby  called  forth  will  probably  be  to  repossess 
the  forts,  places,  and  property  which  have  been  seized 
from  the  Union  ;  and  in  every  case  the  utmost  care  will 
be  observed,  consistently  with  the  objects  aforesaid,  to 
avoid  any  devastation,  any  destruction  of,  or  inter- 
ference with,  property,  or  any  disturbance  of  peaceful 
citizens  of  any  part  of  the  country."  With  the  full 
assurance  of  a  long  war  before  him,  Lincoln  was  de- 
termined that  nobody  should  justly  say  that  he  had  let 
loose  the  dogs  of  war  without  anxious  desire  to  save 
from  harm  all  innocent  persons. 

While  doubt  and  uncertainty  hung  like  a  mist  over 
the  nation,  the  voice  of  a  mighty  people  burst  upon 
the  ear  of  the  melancholy  President.  Then  came  the 
tread  of  the  mighty  army  that  should  never  retire  until 
the  country  was  saved  from  disunion  and  the  flag  had 
been  restored  to  the  staff  from  which  it  had  been  low- 
ered in  disgrace. 

Lincoln's  message  to  Congress  following  the  battle 
of  Bull  Run,  after  reciting  the  events  that  had  taken 
place,  declared  that  the  rebels  had  forced  the  issue  of 
war  or  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and  that  this  issue 
* '  embraces  more  than  the  fate  of  these  United  States. 
It  presents  to  the  whole  family  of  man  the  question 
whether  a  constitutional  republic  or  democracy  —  a 
government  of  the  people  by  the  same  people  —  can  or 
cannot  maintain  its  territorial  integrity  against  its 
own  domestic  foes.  It  presents  the  question  whether 
discontented  individuals,  too  few  in  numbers  to  con- 
trol administration  according  to  organic  law  in  any 
case,  can  always,  upon  the  pretences  made  in  this  case, 
or  on  any  other  pretences,  or  arbitrarily,  without  any 


152  Abraham  Lincoln 

pretence,  break  up  their  government,  and  thus  practi- 
cally put  an  end  to  free  government  upon  the  earth. 
It  forces  us  to  ask,  '  Is  there  in  all  republics  this  in- 
herent and  fatal  weakness  ?  '  '  Must  a  government,  of 
necessity,  be  too  strong  for  the  liberties  of  its  own 
people,  or  too  weak  to  maintain  its  own  existence  ?  '  " 

I<incoln  was  only  enforcing  here  just  such  ideas  of 
self-government  as,  during  all  his  life,  he  had  been  so 
clearly  expounding  to  the  people  ;  and  here,  too,  will 
be  seen  the  germ  of  the  famous  speech  that  he  later 
pronounced  on  the  field  of  Gettysburg.  He  further 
said,  in  the  message  from  which  we  have  been  quot- 
ing, that  it  was  a  sophism,  false  reasoning,  to  say  that 
a  State  may  peaceably  get  out  of  the  Union  of  the 
States.  "  The  sophism,"  he  said,  **  is  that  any  State 
of  the  Union  may,  consistently  with  the  national  Con- 
stitution, and  therefore  lawfully  and  peacefully,  with- 
draw from  the  Union  without  consent  of  the  Union,  or 
any  other  State.  The  little  disguise,  that  the  supposed 
right  is  to  be  exercised  only  for  just  cause,  themselves 
to  be  the  judges  of  its  justice,  is  too  thin  to  merit  any 
notice.  With  rebellion  thus  sugar-coated  they  have 
been  drugging  the  public  mind  of  their  section  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  and  until  at  length  they  have 
brought  many  good  men  to  a  willingness  to  take  up 
arms  against  the  government  the  day  after  some  as- 
semblage of  men  has  enacted  the  farcical  pretence  of 
taking  their  State  out  of  the  Union,  who  would  have, 
could  have,  been  brought  to  no  such  thing  the  day 
before. ' ' 

Early  in  the  struggle  the  rebel  government  sent  to 
Europe,  as  envoys,  James  M.  Mason  and  John  Slidell. 
These  men  had  been  members  of  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  had  left  Washington  at  the  beginning  of 


President  Abraham  Lincoln  153 

the  war  to  take  sides  with  their  States.  Sailing  first 
for  Cuba,  the  two  envoys  there  took  passage  on  the 
British  packet-ship  Treiit  for  St.  Thomas,  a  British 
port,  intending  to  sail  thence  for  England.  This  was 
on  the  7th  of  November,  1861.  On  the  following  day, 
the  Trent  was  overhauled  by  the  United  States  man-of- 
war  San  Jacinto,  Captain  Wilkes.  He,  having  fired  a 
shot  across  the  bows  of  the  Trent  to  bring  her  to,  sent 
a  boat  alongside,  and  took  off  the  two  envoys  and  their 
secretaries,  and  carried  them  to  Boston,  where  they 
were  lodged  in  Fort  Warren. 

The  demand  of  the  British  government  that  the 
envoys  should  be  surrendered  caused  great  delight  to 
the  rebels.  There  would  now  be  war  between  Kngland 
and  the  United  States,  and,  in  the  commotion,  their 
Confederacy  would  secure  independence.  In  England, 
very  few  men,  apparently,  sympathized  with  the  United 
States  in  its  struggle  to  preserve  the  Union,  and  the 
seizure  of  Mason  and  Slidell  was  regarded  as  an  insult. 
The  London  newspapers  declared  that  the  war  would 
now  be  terrible;  the  power  of  England  would  be  with 
the  South,  and  the  result  would  be  the  eternal  division 
of  the  States. 

The  British  demand  only  inflamed  the  indignation 
already  aroused  by  the  attitude  of  the  English  people. 
The  people  of  the  loyal  States  were  determined  that 
the  envoys  should  never  be  surrendered.  Congress 
passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Captain  Wilkes.  The  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  Mr.  Gideon  Welles,  wrote  him  a 
letter  congratulating  him  on  "  the  great  public  ser- 
vice ' '  he  had  rendered  to  the  country,  and  Mr.  Stan- 
ton, who  afterwards  replaced  Mr.  Cameron  as  Secretary 
of  War,  cordially  approved  of  the  capture  of  the  rebel 
emissaries.      Secretary  Seward  was  also  opposed  to 


154  Abraham  Lincoln 

making  any  concession  to  the  demands  of  the  British 
government. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  excitement  and  debate, 
Lincoln  remained  thoughtful,  anxious,  determined. 
From  the  first  he  was  doubtful  of  the  lawfulness  of  the 
seizure  :  and,  as  he  examined  the  case  and  studied  its 
bearings,  he  became  convinced  that  the  emissaries 
must  be  given  up.  He  was  firm  in  the  face  of  popular 
clamor  and  popular  rage.  It  is  difficult  for  those 
who  did  not  feel  the  influence  of  those  exciting  times 
to  realize  how  easy  it  would  have  been  to  swim  with 
the  tide  and  rush  into  a  war  with  England,  as  our  peo. 
pie  were  then  bent  on  doing.  Said  Lincoln  :  "  Once 
we  fought  Great  Britain  for  doing  just  what  Captain 
Wilkes  has  done.  If  Great  Britain  protests  against 
this  act  and  demands  their  release,  we  must  adhere  to 
our  principles  of  1812.  We  must  give  up  these  pris- 
oners.    Besides,  one  war  at  a  time." 

Now  that  the  world  has  seen  and  acknowledged  the 
justice  as  well  as  the  wisdom  of  Lincoln's  position,  we 
may  well  admire  the  courage  and  the  sagacity  with 
which  he  stood  out  for  what  was  then  regarded  as  a 
cowardly  and  ill-advised  action.  Give  up  the  rebel 
emissaries  ?  The  thought  was  madness.  If  the  pro- 
posal had  come  from  any  man  but  Abraham  Lincoln, 
it  would  have  been  laughed  down,  no  matter  what  was 
the  official  function  of  the  man  who  made  it.  As  it 
was,  not  a  few  of  the  more  radical  and  violent  poli- 
ticians were  greatly  incensed  against  the  President. 
Nevertheless,  Secretary  Seward  was  won  over  to  Lin- 
coln's view  of  the  case,  and,  in  a  paper  of  singular 
ingenuity  and  skill,  he  gave  answer  to  the  demand  of 
the  British  government.    The  envoj^s  were  surrendered. 

Great  was  the  derision  of  the  rebels  over  this  act. 


President  Abraham  Lincoln  155 

Great  also  was  the  wrath  and  humiHation  of  the  loyal 
people  of  the  North  ;  for  men  were  slow  in  arriving  at 
the  rational  conclusion  that  Lincoln  had  done  the 
Republic  a  service  invaluable.  His  enemies  and  critics 
were  clamorous  and  bitter.  But,  serene,  confident  of 
the  strength  of  the  position  he  had  taken  in  this 
weighty  affair,  Lincoln  remained  silent  ;  he  waited  for 
time  to  vindicate  the  wisdom  of  his  course. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  SI.AVKRY  QUESTION  ARISES 

NEW  trials  of  patience  and  sagacity  now  arose. 
The  irrepressible  slavery  question  came  to  the 
surface  and  would  not  be  long  disregarded.  Missouri 
by  the  summer  of  1861  was  plunged  in  a  state  of  wild 
disorder.  Murders,  neighborhood  feuds,  assassina- 
tions of  every  sort  were  common.  The  State  was 
classed  as  doubtful  for  the  Union,  being  overrun  with 
Secessionists,  although  the  local  government  had  not 
declared  for  separation. 

On  the  31st  of  August,  General  Fremont,  recently 
assigned  to  that  region,  issued  a  proclamation  declaring 
Missouri  to  be  under  martial  law,  and  that  the  prop- 
erty of  all  persons  in  a  state  of  rebellion  against  the 
authority  of  the  United  States  would  be  seized  and 
confiscated,  and  that  the  slaves  of  such  persons  would 
be  free. 

These  declarations  fell  on  the  people  of  the  United 
States  with  astounding  effect.  In  the  loyal  States,  the 
people  were  thrilled  with  the  thought  that  a  heavy 
blow  had  been  struck  at  slavery.  The  rebels,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  infuriated.  Up  to  this  time,  no  sac- 
rilegious hand  had  been  laid  on  the  time-honored  right 
of  property  in  slaves. 

Lincoln  himself  was  greatly  distressed  by  this  act  of 
insubordination  (for  such  it  was)  on  the  part  of  Fre- 

156 


The  Slavery  Question  Arises         157 

mont,  and  was  troubled  by  the  necessity  of  rebuking  a 
man  whose  services  he  hoped  to  find  useful  in  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Rebellion.  Accordingly,  he  sent  him 
by  a  private  messenger  a  letter  asking  him  to  make 
such  changes  in  the  proclamation  as  would  conform  it 
to  the  act  of  Congress  by  which  property  used  for  the 
purposes  of  the  Rebellion  was  to  be  confiscated. 

Among  other  things  he  said  :  '  *  I  think  there  is  great 
danger  that  the  closing  paragraph,  in  relation  to  the 
confiscation  of  property  and  the  liberating  of  slaves  of 
traitorous  owners,  will  alarm  our  Southern  Union 
friends  and  turn  them  against  us  ;  perhaps  ruin  our 
rather  fair  prospect  for  Kentucky."  Fremont  was 
fixed,  however,  in  his  opinions.  He  declined  to  recall 
or  change  any  part  of  his  admired  proclamation  ;  and 
Lincoln,  in  an  order  dated  September  11,  1861,  was 
forced  so  to  modify  the  proclamation  of  Fremont  that 
it  should  not  transcend  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
Congress  before  mentioned. 

At  this  point  it  may  as  well  be  recorded  that  Gen- 
eral David  Hunter,  commanding  the  Military  Depart- 
ment of  the  South,  with  headquarters  at  Hilton  Head, 
South  Carolina,  did,  in  the  following  May,  also  issue  a 
proclamation  of  emancipation  not  unlike  that  of  Fre- 
mont. This  extraordinary  proclamation  was  revoked 
by  Lincoln  without  delay,  and  with  none  of  the  gentle 
consideration  he  had  shown  to  Fremont.  Hunter  had 
before  him  the  example  of  Fremont's  being  overruled, 
and  Lincoln  justly  thought  that  his  offence  was  there- 
fore less  excusable  than  the  indiscretion  of  Fremont. 

When  Hunter's  manifesto  reached  Washington  the 
President  proclaimed  *'  that  neither  General  Hunter 
nor  any  other  commander  or  person  has  been  author- 
ized by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  make 


158  Abraham   Lincoln 

proclamation  declaring  the  slaves  of  any  State  free." 
He  further  said,  to  settle  all  doubt  on  this  grave  mat- 
ter, that  he  reserved  to  himself  the  right  to  determine 
whether  it  should  become  a  necessity  indispensable  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  government,  to  exercise  the 
supposed  power  of  proclaiming  emancipation  to  the 
slaves.  He  could  not  delegate  that  authority  to  com- 
manders in  the  field  under  any  circumstances. 

In  pursuance  of  his  plan  to  provide  for  a  gradual 
abolition  of  slavery,  compensating  the  loyal  slave- 
holders for  their  losses,  Lincoln  sent  to  Congress,  on 
the  6th  of  March,  1862,  a  message  recommending  the 
passage  of  a  joint  resolution  declaring  that  the  United 
States  ought  to  co-operate  with  any  State  that  should 
institute  measures  for  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the 
slaves,  extending  to  such  State  pecuniary  aid  for  the 
compensation  of  those  whose  slaves  should  be  made 
free  by  the  acts  of  the  States.  In  that  message  Lin- 
coln said  :  ''  If  the  proposition  contained  in  the  reso- 
lution does  not  meet  the  approval  of  Congress  and  the 
country,  there  is  an  end  ;  but  if  it  does  command  such 
approval,  I  deem  it  of  importance  that  the  States  and 
people  immediately  interested  should  at  once  be  dis- 
tinctly notified  of  the  fact,  so  that  they  may  begin  to 
consider  whether  to  accept  or  rej  ect  it. ' '  Furthermore, 
he  said  that  if  resistance  to  the  national  authority 
should  cease,  the  war  would  cease.  "If,"  he  added, 
**  resistance  continues,  the  war  must  also  continue  ; 
and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  all  the  incidents  which 
may  attend  and  all  the  ruin  which  may  follow  it. 
Such  as  may  seem  indispensable,  or  may  obviously 
promise  great  efiiciency  toward  ending  the  struggle, 
must  and  will  come." 

Congress  adopted  the  resolution.    The  border  States, 


The  Slavery  Question  Arises         159 

for  which  it  was  intended  to  make  provision,  regarded 
the  measure  with  sullen  indifference.  Most  of  the 
border  State  men  in  Congress  voted  against  the  resolu- 
tion or  let  it  severely  alone.  It  seems  strange  that 
the  border  States  did  not  take  warning  by  what  had 
already  been  done  by  Congress. 

Meantime,  a  bill  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  had  passed  Congress.  When  Lincoln  signed 
the  bill  that  gave  freedom  to  the  slaves  at  the  seat  of 
the  national  Government,  he  said :  *  'Little  did  I  dream, 
in  1849,  when  I  proposed  to  abolish  slavery  in  this 
capital,  and  could  scarcely  get  a  hearing  for  the  propo- 
sition, that  it  would  be  so  soon  accomplished."  There 
was  a  certain  poetic  justice  that  the  man  who,  thirteen 
years  before,  had  had  the  courage  to  ask  that  slavery 
be  expelled  from  the  capital  of  the  nation  should  be  per- 
mitted to  set  his  signature,  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  measure  he  had  vainly  proffered  as  a 
representative  of  the  people. 

During  the  summer  of  1862,  the  question  of  arming 
the  freedmen  began  to  be  seriously  considered.  Liu- 
coln  immediately  favored  the  proposition  to  arm  some 
of  the  thousands  of  able-bodied  colored  men  who 
swarmed  the  Union  camps,  subsisting  on  rations  fur- 
nished them  by  the  Government.  He  said:  "  Negroes, 
like  other  people,  act  from  motive.  Why  should  they 
do  anything  for  us,  if  we  do  nothing  for  them  ?  If 
they  stake  their  lives  for  us,  they  must  be  prompted  by 
the  strongest  of  motives,  even  the  promise  of  freedom. 
And  the  promise,  being  made,  must  be  kept, ' '  Accord- 
ingly, when  the  proposition  authorizing  the  enlistment 
of  colored  troops  became  a  law,  it  contained  a  clause 
giving  freedom  to  all  who  served  in  the  Army,  and  to 
their  families  as  well. 


i6o  Abraham  Lincoln 

By  act  of  Congress,  slavery  had  not  only  been 
excluded  from  the  District  of  Columbia,  but  had  been 
declared  illegal  in  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  ; 
and  there  were  already  strong  demands  for  an  emanci- 
pation proclamation  from  the  President.  The  most 
radical  of  these  was  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Lincoln 
and  published  in  the  New  York  Tribune  by  its  editor, 
Horace  Greeley.  This  was  Lincoln's  opportunity  to 
lay  the  case  before  the  people.  Accordingly,  under 
date  of  August  22,  1862,  he  sent  to  Mr.  Greeley  the 
following  letter  : 

"  Hon.  Horace  Greeley : 

'*  Dear  Sir  —  I  have  just  read  yours  of  the  nine- 
teenth instant,  addressed  to  myself  through  the  New 
York  Tribune. 

' '  If  there  be  in  it  any  statements  or  assumptions  of 
facts  which  I  may  know  to  be  erroneous,  I  do  not  now 
and  here  controvert  them. 

**  If  there  be  any  inferences  which  I  may  believe  to 
be  falsely  drawn,  I  do  not  now  and  here  argue  against 
them. 

"  If  there  be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  and  dic- 
tatorial tone,  I  waive  it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend 
whose  heart  I  have  always  supposed  to  be  right. 

*'  As  to  the  policy  I  '  seem  to  be  pursuing,'  as  you 
say,  I  have  not  meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt.  I 
would  saA^e  the  Union.  I  would  save  it  in  the  shortest 
way  under  the  Constitution. 

*  *  The  sooner  the  national  authority  can  be  restored, 
the  nearer  the  Union  will  be  —  the  Union  as  it  was. 

' '  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union 
unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do 
not  agree  with  them. 


The  Slavery  Question  Arises         i6i 

*  *  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union 
unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  destroy  slavery,  I 
do  not  agree  with  them. 

**  My  paramount  object  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  not 
either  to  save  or  destroy  slavery. 

"  If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any 
slave,  I  would  do  it ;  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all 
the  slaves,  I  would  do  it  ;  and  if  I  could  do  it  by  free- 
ing some  and  leaving  others  alone,  I  would  also  do 
that. 

**  What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do 
because  I  believe  it  helps  to  save  this  Union ;  and  what 
I  forbear,  I  forbear  because  I  do  not  believe  it  would 
help  to  save  the  Union. 

*'  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  what  I  am 
doing  hurts  the  cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I 
believe  doing  more  will  help  the  cause. 

''  I  shall  try  to  correct  errors  when  shown  to  be 
errors,  and  I  shall  adopt  new  views  so  fast  as  they 
shall  appear  to  be  true  views. 

"  I  have  here  stated  mj^  purpose  according  to  my 

views  of  official  duty,  and  I  intend  no  modification  of 

my  oft-expressed  personal  wish  that  all  men  everywhere 

could  be  free. 

Yours, 

A.  L1NC01.N." 


X  ours, 


Meanwhile,  the  rebel  army,  under  General  I^ee,  had 
achieved  some  important  successes,  and,  flushed  with 
victory,  had  crossed  the  Potomac  into  Maryland.  A 
border  State,  3^et  loyal  to  the  Union,  had  been  invaded. 
The  news  created  something  like  a  panic  throughout 
the  country.  Lincoln  was  profoundly  stirred.  He 
had  been  considering  the  issuing  of  a  proclamation  of 


XX 


1 62  Abraham  Lincoln 

emancipation.  He  had  even  prepared  a  draft  of  such 
a  document.  But  when  others  urged  it  upon  him  he 
almost  invariably  argued  against  it.  He  seemed  to 
hesitate.  But,  as  he  subsequently  admitted,  when 
Maryland  was  invaded  by  the  rebel  forces,  and  the 
national  capital  was  put  in  jeopardy,  he  made  a  solemn 
vow  to  God  that,  if  the  invader  should  be  expelled,  he 
would  thereupon  issue  the  long-deferred  proclamation. 
The  battle  of  South  Mountain  was  fought  September 
14th,  the  battle  of  Antietam  on  the  17th  of  the  month. 
The  rebels,  whipped  and  routed,  retreated  across  the 
Potomac.  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  were  saved. 
On  September  22,  1862,  the  President  issued  his  im- 
mortal Proclamation. 

Bonfires,  illuminations,  salvos  of  artillery,  and  pub- 
lic meetings  manifested  the  people's  joy  over  what  was 
declared  to  be  the  downfall  of  slavery.  The  "  house 
divided  against  itself"  would  no  longer  exist  so  di- 
vided. In  many  towns  and  cities  thanksgiving  services 
were  held,  resolutions  of  approval  and  congratulation 
were  adopted,  and  the  President  was  assured,  by  every 
possible  form  of  words,  of  the  hearty  co-operation  of 
the  nation  in  the  work  yet  remaining  to  be  done.  From 
this  time  forward,  the  war  took  on  a  new  aspect.  It 
was  a  war  for  the  re-establishment  of  the  Union  —  the 
Union  without  slavery. 

In  the  final  issue  of  the  Proclamation,  New  Year's 
Day,  1863,  Lincoln  said  : 

"  Wherkas,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  Septem- 
ber, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  containing,  among  other 
things,  the  following,  to  wit  : 

"  '  That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of 


The  Slavery  Question   Arises  163 

our  I^ord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three, 
all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  State  or  desig- 
nated part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be 
in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then, 
thenceforward,  and  forever  free  ;  and  the  Executive 
Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and 
maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no 
act  or  acts  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in 
any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom.' 

* '  Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  I^incoln,  President  of 
the  United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested 
as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the 
United  States,  in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against 
the  authority  and  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  as  a  fit  and  necessary  war  measure  for  suppressing 
said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to 
do,  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full  period  of  one  hun- 
dred days  from  the  day  first  above  mentioned,  order 
and  designate  as  the  States  and  parts  of  States  wherein 
the  people  thereof,  respectively,  are  this  day  in  rebel- 
lion against  the  United  States,  the  following,  to  wit  : 

"  Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana  (except  the  parishes 
of  St.  Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St. 
Charles,  St.  James,  Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre 
Bonne,  Lafourche,  St.  Mary,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans, 
including  the  city  of  New  Orleans),  Mississippi,  Ala- 
bama, Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  and  Virginia 
(except  the  forty-eight  counties  designated  as  West 
Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkeley,  Accomac, 
Northampton,   Elizabeth   City,    York,   Princess  Ann, 


164  Abraham   Lincoln 

and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Ports- 
mouth), and  which  excepted  parts  are  for  the  present 
left  precisely  as  if  this  proclamation  were  not  issued. 

"  And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid,  I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held 
as  slaves  within  said  designated  States  and  parts  of 
States  are,  and  henceforward  shall  be,  free  ;  and  that 
the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  in- 
cluding the  military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will 
recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons. 

"  And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared 
to  be  free  to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  neces- 
sary self-defence  ;  and  I  recommend  to  them  that,  in 
all  cases  when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reason- 
able wages. 

*  *  And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such 
persons,  of  suitable  condition,  will  be  received  into 
the  armed  service  of  the  United  States  to  garrison 
forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other  places,  and  to  man 
vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

*'  And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act 
of  justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution  upon  military 
necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  man- 
kind and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God. 

**  In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand 
and  caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

*'  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  first  day  of 
January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty-seventh. 

''Abraham  lyiNCOi^N." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A   DiFFICUIvT  MIIylTARY  SITUATION 

WHIIvK  the  steps  that  led  up  to  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  were  being  taken,  Lincoln  was 
greatly  troubled  by  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of 
the  military  situation.  The  eyes  of  the  people,  for  the 
most  part,  were  turned  towards  Washington.  The 
operations  around  the  national  capital  were,  for  vari- 
ous reasons,  more  interesting  than  were  those  of  greater 
real  importance  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  In  that 
direction,  it  seemed,  nothing  was  done  but  to  make 
elaborate  and  extensive  preparations. 

General  McClellan  was  now  in  the  zenith  of  his  fame 
and  popularity.  He  was  yet  young,  barely  turned 
thirtj^-six,  but  he  had  already  made  himself  a  favorite 
with  the  Army  and  the  people.  In  fact,  in  the  very 
beginning  of  the  war,  he  achieved  militar}^  successes  in 
western  Virginia,  and  won  a  name  for  himself  before 
other  men  had  a  chance  to  distinguish  themselves. 
Fresh  from  his  victories,  McClellan,  in  the  summer  of 
1 86 1,  assumed  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
He  found  it  a  fine  body  of  men,  fifty  thousand  in  num- 
ber, rapidly  increasing  with  the  new  levies;  for  Lincoln, 
as  Commander-in-Chief,  had  strained  his  authority  to 
the  utmost  to  make  that  army  a  large  and  aggressive 
force  —  one  of  which  McClellan  could  say  in  the  fol- 
lowing March  :   "  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  is  now 

165 


1 66  Abraham  Lincoln 

a  real  armj'' — magnificent  in  material,  admirable  in 
discipline,  excellently  equipped  and  armed.  Your 
commanders  are  all  that  I  could  wish."  Yet  nothing 
was  done. 

Even  the  brilliant  and  highly  important  victories  in 
the  West  failed,  however,  to  arouse  in  McClellan  anj^ 
answer  to  the  crv,  "  On  to  Richmond."  It  was  not 
until  March,  1862,  that  this  perfect  arrny  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Peninsula,  and  was  ready  to  advance. 
April  and  May  slipped  away  without  any  results,  and 
June,  in  fights  and  manoeuvres  even  now  not  readily 
understood. 

On  the  9th  of  April,  the  President  had  written  Mc- 
Clellan : 

' '  I  suppose  the  whole  force  which  had  gone  forward 
to  you  is  with  you  by  this  time,  and  if  so,  I  think  that 
it  is  the  precise  time  for  3'ou  to  strike  a  blow.  By  delay, 
the  enemy  will  relatively  gain  upon  you  —  that  is,  he 
will  gain  faster  by  fortifications  and  reinforcements 
than  you  can  by  reinforcements  alone  ;  and  once  more 
let  me  tell  you,  it  is  indispensable  to  you  that  j^ou 
strike  a  blow.  I  am  powerless  to  help  this.  .  .  . 
The  country  will  not  fail  to  note — and  it  is  now  noting 
—  that  the  present  hesitation  to  move  upon  an  in- 
trenched enemy  is  but  the  story  of  Manassas  repeated. 
I  beg  to  assure  j^ou  I  have  never  written  ...  in 
greater  kindness,  nor  with  a  fuller  purpose  to  sustain 
you,  so  far  as  in  my  most  anxious  judgment  I  consist- 
ently can.     But  you  must  act." 

Still  nothing  was  done,  and,  on  the  25th  of  May, 
lyincoln  telegraphed  to  McClellan  :  "  I  think  the  time 
is  near  at  hand  when  you  must  either  attack  Richmond 
or  give  up  the  job,  and  come  to  the  defence  of  Wash- 
ington.' 


)  > 


A  Difficult  Military  Situation         167 

Lee's  army  was  being  massed  to  crush  Pope,  in 
whose  hands  had  been  left  the  defence  of  the  capital. 
The  Peninsular  Campaign  had  already  come  to  a 
standstill ;  but  the  slow-moving  McClellan  did  not  use 
this  chance  against  Richmond,  nor  to  support  Pope  ; 
nor,  indeed,  did  he  reach  Washington  until  the  last  of 
August,  a  month  after  he  received  positive  orders  to 
move  thither. 

Meantime  Pope  had  been  hopelessly  beaten,  and  once 
more  McClellan  had  an  opportunity  offered  him  to 
achieve  a  great  success.  Yielding  to  what  seemed  a 
military  necessity,  lyincoln  placed  him  at  the  head  of  a 
newly  re-organized  army.  He  now  had  under  him  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  remnants  of  Pope's  Army 
of  Virginia,  and  the  forces  brought  from  North  Caro- 
lina by  General  Burnside.  To  these  were  added  rein- 
forcements from  the  raw  levies,  making  the  force  under 
McClellan  the  largest  that  had  ever  been  massed  to- 
gether in  one  army — more  than  two  hundred  thousand, 
all  told.  If  ever  "  the  young  Napoleon  "  was  to  win 
laurels,  this  was  his  time  and  opportunity. 

Meantime  McClellan  did  not  seize  the  precious  oppor- 
tunity to  strike  Lee's  army  while  it  was  divided  ;  and 
he  allowed  Harper's  Ferry  to  fall  unrelieved,  on  the 
15th  of  September.  Two  days  later,  finally  roused, 
he  attacked  Lee  at  Antietam  and  beat  him. 

It  would  appear  that  McClellan  might  have  followed, 
one  entire  corps  of  his  army  not  having  been  in  the 
fight.  But  he  remained  where  he  was,  and  called  for 
more  reinforcements.  This  amazing  demand,  follow- 
ing the  delay  to  move,  alarmed  the  President,  and  he 
made  a  personal  visit  to  the  army  to  see  for  himself 
how  aff"airs  stood.  On  his  return  to  Washington  he 
issued  an  order  directing  McClellan  to   "  cross  the 


1 68  Abraham   Lincoln 

Potomac  and  give  battle  to  the  enemy  or  drive  him 
south."  This  order  McClellan  declined  to  obey.  On 
the  tenth  of  that  month,  J.  K.  B.  Stuart,  a  dashing 
rebel  cavalry  officer,  crossed  the  Potomac,  going  as 
far  north  as  Chambersburg,  Penns3dvania,  which  he 
raided,  and  made  the  entire  circuit  of  McClellan' s  army 
before  he  re-crossed  into  Virginia. 

A  few  days  after  this  daring  exploit,  which  McClel- 
lan had  confidently  predicted  would  end  in  his  "  bag- 
ging "  the  whole  of  Stuart's  command,  Lincoln  wrote 
a  long  and  friendly  letter  to  McClellan,  in  which  he 
begged  for  a  forward  movement,  arguing  the  case  from 
a  military  point  of  view  with  much  acuteness.  Still 
McClellan  did  not  move.  He  complained  that  his 
horses  were  fatigued,  and  had  the ' '  sore  tongue. ' '  Lin- 
coln could  not  help  asking  what  his  cavalry  had  done 
since  the  battle  of  Antietam,  fought  more  than  a  month 
before,  that  they  should  be  fatigued.  McClellan 
showed  that  he  resented  this  home  thrust,  and  Lincoln, 
ready  to  plead  his  own  desire  to  be  exactly  just,  wrote 
to  the  General  to  say  that  he  was  very  sorry  if  he  had 
done  the  General  any  injustice.  He  added,  however  : 
"To  be  told,  after  five  weeks'  total  inactivity  of  the 
army,  and  during  which  period  we  had  sent  to  that 
army  every  fresh  horse  we  possibly  could,  amounting 
in  the  whole  to  7918,  that  the  cavalry  horses  were  too 
fatigued  to  move,  presented  a  cheerless,  almost  hope- 
less, prospect  for  the  future."  It  may  be  added  to  this 
that  the  winter  was  now  close  at  hand,  when  active 
operations  in  the  field,  always  difficult,  would  be  im- 
possible under  McClellan' s  command. 

Finally,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1862,  just  one 
month  after  the  order  to  cross  had  been  issued,  the 
army  did  cross  the  Potomac.     By  this  time,  of  course, 


A  Difficult  Military  Situation         169 

the  rebels,  recoveriug  from  their  defeat  at  Antietam, 
were  ready  for  battle  or  for  a  retreat.  It  was  too  late. 
General  McClellau  was  relieved  from  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  on  the  5th  of  November,  and  was 
ordered  to  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  His  military  career 
was  closed;  and  we  hear  no  more  of  him  until  he 
emerged,  in  1864,  as  the  presidential  candidate  of  the 
Democratic  party. 

Lincoln  again  and  again  was  urged  by  the  impatient 
and  fiery  spirits  around  him  to  remove  McClellan  and 
subject  him  to  trial  by  court-martial  for  repeated  disobe- 
dience of  orders.  Even  those  who  did  not  advise  these 
extreme  measures  with  the  General  counselled  the 
President  to  withdraw  McClellan  from  command.  But 
Lincoln  knew  that  many  of  the  subordinate  commanders 
in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  warm  champions  of 
McClellan' s  military  genius,  believers  in  his  mysterious 
power  to  win  great  victories.  They  would  support 
any  other  commander  with  lukewarmness,  if  they  sup- 
ported him  at  all. 

The  country  was  slow  to  give  up  its  faith  in  the 
young  General,  and  Lincoln  was  reluctant  to  remove 
McClellan  while  he  yet  had  a  chance  to  retrieve  him- 
self. He  let  him  remain  to  encourage  popular  and 
military  confidence.  Not  until  McClellan  had  worn 
out  his  reputation  was  he  removed. 

The  year  closed  in  gloom.  Burnside  had  come  in 
McClellan 's  place,  and  had  gone  his  way  after  the 
crushing  defeat  at  Fredericksburg.  Nor  was  the  mili- 
tary situation  in  the  West  for  the  moment  any  more 
hopeful.  Congress  was  divided  into  factions.  The 
Cabinet  was  not  wholly  harmonious.  The  loyal  press 
of  the  country  was  bitter  and  arrogant  in  its  criticisms 
of  the  Administration. 


1 70  Abraham   Lincoln 

In  the  army  there  were  mutterings  of  discontent. 
General  Hooker  openly  derided  Burnside  as  "  a  butch- 
er," and  declared  that  he  had  fought  the  battle  of 
Fredericksburg  on  his  "  deportment."  Others  of  the 
army  began  to  say  that  the  country  needed  a  dictator, 
a  military  hero.  An  old  ofl&cer  of  the  army  was  ar- 
rested for  saying  publicly  that  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, with  *'  little  Mac  "  at  its  head,  should  "  clean  out 
Congress  and  the  White  House."  In  the  midst  of 
these  depressing  scenes  and  rumors,  Lincoln  alone  was 
calm,  resolute,  and  uncomplaining.  He  never  for  an 
instant  relaxed  his  efforts  to  push  the  war  ;  never  fal- 
tered, even  in  the  face  of  what  seemed  inevitable  de- 
feat. To  a  sympathizing  friend  who  asked  how  he 
was  getting  on  with  a  prosecution  of  the  war,  he  sadly 
and  grimly  said  :  ''  Oh,  I  am  just  pegging  away." 
And,  long  after,  when  the  war  was  well-nigh  over,  and 
another  friend  congratulated  him  on  his  pluck  and  en- 
durance in  sticking  to  the  work  when  all  seemed  hope- 
less, he  said  :  ''  Well,  there  was  nothing  else  to  be 
done." 

On  the  26th  of  January,  1863,  Lincoln  wrote  to  Gen- 
eral Hooker  the  following  characteristic  letter  : 

"Executive  Mansion, 
"Washington,  D.  C,  January  26,  1863. 

**  Major-General  Hooker  : 

'*  General — I  have  placed  you  at  the  head  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  Of  course  I  have  done  this 
upon  what  appear  to  me  to  be  sufficient  reasons,  and 
yet  I  think  it  best  for  you  to  know  that  there  are  some 
things  in  regard  to  which  I  am  not  satisfied  with  you. 
I  believe  you  to  be  a  brave  and  skilful  soldier,  which 
of  course  I  like.     I  also  believe  that  you  do  not  mix 


A  Difficult  Military  Situation         171 

politics  with  your  profession,  in  which  you  are  right. 
You  have  confidence  in  yourself,  which  is  a  valuable, 
if  not  indispensable,  quality.  You  are  ambitious, 
which,  within  reasonable  bounds,  does  good  rather  than 
harm  ;  but  I  think  that  during  General  Burnside's 
command  of  the  army  you  have  taken  counsel  of  your 
ambition  and  thwarted  him  as  much  as  you  could,  in 
which  you  did  a  great  wrong  to  the  country  and  to  a 
most  meritorious  and  honorable  brother  oflBcer.  I 
have  heard,  in  such  a  way  as  to  believe  it,  of  your 
recently  saying  that  both  the  army  and  the  govern- 
ment needed  a  dictator.  Of  course  it  was  not  for  this, 
but  in  spite  of  it,  that  I  have  given  you  the  command. 
Only  those  generals  who  gain  success  can  be  dictators. 
What  I  now  ask  of  you  is  military  success,  and  I  will 
risk  the  dictatorship.  The  government  will  support 
you  to  the  utmost  of  its  abilit}^  which  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  it  has  done  and  will  do  for  all  com- 
manders. I  much  fear  that  the  spirit  which  you  have 
aided  to  infuse  into  the  army,  of  criticising  their  com- 
mander and  withholding  confidence  from  him,  will 
now  turn  upon  you.  I  shall  assist  j^ou  as  far  as  I  can 
to  put  it  down.  Neither  you  nor  Napoleon,  if  he  were 
alive  again,  could  get  any  good  out  of  an  army  while 
such  a  spirit  prevails  in  it.  And  now,  beware  of  rash- 
ness. Beware  of  rashness,  but,  with  energy  and  sleep- 
less vigilance,  go  forward  and  give  us  victories. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

A.      lylNCOIyN." 


It  must  be  said  that  this  brotherly  and  almost  affec- 
tionate letter,  while  it  was  appreciated  by  its  recipient, 
did  not  strike  him  as  being  particularly  pertinent  and 
well  deserved.     Just  before  the  battle  of  Chancellors- 


172  Abraham  Lincoln 

ville,  while  Lincoln  and  a  few  personal  friends  were  at 
the  headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on  a 
visit,  General  Hooker  said  to  one  of  the  party,  in  the 
privacy  of  his  tent,  late  at  night :  "  I  suppose  you 
have  seen  this  letter,  or  a  copy  of  it  ?  "  The  gentle- 
man replied  that  he  had,  and  Hooker,  with  that  mag- 
nificent air  that  characterized  him,  •  said  :  "After  I 
have  been  to  Richmond  I  shall  have  the  letter  pub- 
lished in  the  newspapers.  It  will  be  amusing."  When 
this  was  told  to  Lincoln,  he  said,  with  a  sigh  :  "  Poor 
Hooker  !  I  am  afraid  he  is  incorrigible." 

The  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  however,  was  another 
and  yet  more  crushing  disaster.  Up  to  a  certain  point, 
all  went  well  with  the  army  ;  but,  that  being  reached, 
the  plan  of  campaign  seemed  to  crumble  and  nothing 
further  was  done.  There  was  some  delay  in  returning 
the  army  to  the  north  bank  of  the  Rappahannock  after 
the  repulse  that  nearly  had  ended  the  campaign.  No 
news  reached  Washington,  and  an  expectation  that 
Hooker  would  ev^en  yet  retrieve  the  admitted  disaster 
was  entertained.  Lincoln  clung  desperately  to  this 
hope.  But  after  vainlj^  seeking  for  information  from 
the  army,  Lincoln  received,  early  in  the  afternoon  of 
May  6th,  a  despatch  from  General  Butterfield,  Hooker's 
Chief  of  Staff,  announcing  that  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac had  safely  recrossed  the  Rappahannock  and  was 
then  encamped  on  its  old  ground.  The  President 
seemed  stunned.  Taking  the  despatch  in  his  hand,  he 
passed  into  another  room  in  the  White  House,  where 
were  two  of  his  intimate  friends  who  had  been  with 
him  during  the  recent  inspection  of  the  army,  and 
handing  it  to  one  of  them,  he  said,  by  a  motion  of  his 
lips,  "  Read  it."  It  was  read  aloud,  and  Lincoln,  his 
face  ashy  gray  in  hue  and  his  eyes  streaming  with 


A  Difficult  Military  Situation         173 

tears,  finally  ejaculated  :  ''  My  God  !  my  God  !  what 
will  the  country  say  ?  What  will  the  country  say  ?  " 
He  refused  to  be  comforted,  for  his  grief  was  great. 

The  wildest  rumors  flew  around  the  capital  ;  the 
most  credible  being  that  the  Secretary  of  War  had  re- 
signed, and  the  President  had  gone  to  the  front  to  put 
Halleck  in  command.  Neither  of  these  things  was  true, 
and  as  soon  as  the  torn  and  bleeding  Army  of  the 
Potomac  could  be  reinforced  and  recruited  it  was  once 
more  put  on  a  fighting  basis.  But,  for  a  time,  the  losses 
sustained  by  the  Union  army,  about  ten  thousand  in 
all,  and  the  disappointment  endured  by  the  country, 
seemed  to  plunge  every  loyal  element  into  the  deepest 
gloom,  both  in  the  camps  and  in  the  towns. 

The  turning-point  in  the  military  history  of  the  Re- 
bellion came  during  the  month  of  July,  1863.  In  that 
month  fell  Vicksburg,  the  last  stronghold  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  ;  and  in  that  month  was  fought  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg,  by  which  the  last  frantic  effort 
to  invade  the  North  was  frustrated  and  an  irreparable 
damage  inflicted  upon  the  rebel  cause. 

On  the  4th  day  of  July,  lyincoln  issued  an  announce- 
ment to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  briefly  but 
gladly  stating  the  result  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
and  saying  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  been 
covered  with  the  highest  honor.  He  concluded  with 
these  words  :  "  The  President  especially  desires  that 
on  this  day,  *  He  whose  will,  not  ours,  should  ever- 
more be  done,'  be  everywhere  remembered  and  rever- 
enced with  profoundest  gratitude."  That  evening, 
the  President  was  visited  by  a  vast  throng  of  excited 
and  joyful  people,  and  a  band  played  patriotic  airs 
under  the  White  House  windows.  There  had  not  been 
of  late  so  many  victories  for  the  Federal  arms  that 


174  Abraham  Lincoln 

occasions  like  these  were  common.  The  President  ap- 
peared at  the  window,  the  one  central  under  the  portico 
of  the  mansion,  where  he  so  often  afterwards  stood  to 
address  similar  gatherings,  and  made  a  short  congratu- 
latory address  to  the  multitude. 

He  said  :  ' '  I  do  most  sincerely  thank  God  for  the 
occasion  of  this  call."  Then,  reminding  the  people  of 
the  day  being  the  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  recalling  the  immortal  words  of  that 
Declaration,  which  were  the  foundation  of  his  political 
faith,  he  said  :  "  How  long  ago  is  it?  Eighty-odd 
years  since,  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  the  w^orld,  a  nation,  by  its  representa- 
tives, assembled  and  declared  as  a  self-evident  truth, 
that  all  men  are  created  equal.  That  was  the  birthday 
of  the  United  States  of  America."  He  was  deeply 
moved  b}^  the  occurrence  on  this  day,  above  all  others 
in  the  year,  of  events  calculated  to  impress  upon  the 
minds  of  Americans  the  ideas  declared  in  1776,  so  dear 
to  every  patriotic  citizen,  so  profoundly  fixed  in  his 
own  mind,  as  the  underlying  principles  of  human  polit- 
ical freedom.  And,  after  referring  to  historic  events 
of  national  importance  related  to  Independence  Day, 
he  added  :  *'  And  now  at  this  last  Fourth  of  July  just 
passed  we  have  a  gigantic  rebellion,  at  the  bottom  of 
which  is  an  effort  to  overthrow  the  principle  that  all 
men  are  created  equal.  We  have  the  surrender  of  a 
most  important  position  and  an  SLvray  on  that  very 
day." 

In  August,  Lincoln  was  invited  with  great  urgency 
to  attend  a  meeting  called  to  assemble  in  Springfield, 
Illinois,  to  concert  measures  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Union  and  to  consider  the  condition  of  public  affairs. 
In  a  letter  written  August  26th,  he  expressed  his  regret 


A  Difficult  Military  Situation         175 

that  he  could  not  attend  the  meeting,  and  in  a  few 
well-chosen  sentences  he  outlined  his  policy.  Alluding 
to  the  notion  then  beginning  to  be  more  prevalent  than 
it  had  been, —  that  there  might  be  a  peaceful  compro- 
mise with  the  rebels, —  he  asked  how  such  a  compro- 
mise could  disband  or  expel  from  Northern  soil  the 
rebel  army.  He  urged  that  the  strength  of  the  Rebel- 
lion was  its  army,  and  that  a  compromise,  to  be  effec- 
tive, must  be  with  those  who  controlled  that  army. 
And  he  promised  that  any  proposition  coming  from  any 
persons  able  to  control  the  rebel  forces  should  be  enter- 
tained. The  closing  paragraphs  of  this  letter,  admira- 
ble examples  of  Lincoln's  homely  and  forcible  figures 
of  speech,  were  as  follows  : 

'*  The  Father  of  Waters  again  goes  unvexed  to  the 
sea.  Thanks  to  the  great  Northwest  for  it ;  nor  yet 
wholly  to  them.  Three  hundred  miles  up  they  met 
New  England,  Empire,  Keystone,  and  Jersey,  hewing 
their  way  right  and  left.  The  sunny  South,  too,  in 
more  colors  than  one,  also  lent  a  helping  hand.  On 
the  spot,  their  part  of  the  history  was  jotted  down  in 
black  and  white.  The  job  was  a  great  national  one, 
and  let  none  be  slighted  who  bore  an  honorable  part  in 
it.  And  while  those  who  have  cleared  the  great  river 
may  well  be  proud,  even  that  is  not  all.  It  is  hard  to 
say  that  anything  has  been  more  bravely  and  well  done 
than  at  Antietam,  Murfreesboro,  Gettysburg,  and  on 
many  fields  of  less  note.  Nor  must  Uncle  Sam's  web- 
feet  be  forgotten.  At  all  the  watery  margins  they 
have  been  present,  not  only  on  the  deep  sea,  the  broad 
bay,  and  the  rapid  river,  but  also  up  the  narrow, 
muddy  bayou,  and  wherever  the  ground  was  a  little 
damp,  they  have  been  and  made  their  tracks.  Thanks 
to  all.    For  the  great  Republic — for  the  principle  it  lives 


176  Abraham  Lincoln 

by  and  keeps  alive  —  for  man's  vast  future — thanks  to 
all. 

*'  Peace  does  not  appear  so  distant  as  it  did.  I  hope 
it  will  come  soon  and  come  to  stay  ;  and  so  come  as  to 
be  worth  the  keeping  in  all  future  time.  It  will  then 
have  been  proved  that  among  freemen  there  can  be  no 
successful  appeal  from  the  ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  that 
they  who  take  such  appeal  are  sure  to  lose  their  case 
and  pay  the  cost.  And  there  will  be  some  black 
men  who  can  remember  that  with  silent  tongue  and 
clenched  teeth  and  steady  eye  and  well-poised  bayonet 
they  have  helped  mankind  on  to  this  great  consumma- 
tion, while  I  fear  there  will  be  some  white  ones  unable 
to  forget  that  with  malignant  heart  and  deceitful 
speech  they  have  striven  to  hinder  it." 

On  the  19th  of  November,  1863,  the  battle-field  of 
Gettysburg  was  solemnly  dedicated  as  a  burying-place 
for  the  repose  of  the  remains  of  those  who  had  yielded 
up  their  lives  on  that  now  historic  ground.  The  ser- 
vices were  solemn  and  impressive.  The  principal  ora- 
tion was  made  by  Edward  Kverett,  of  Massachusetts. 
A  few  days  before  the  ceremony,  Mr.  Kverett  sent  the 
President  a  copy  of  his  address,  printed  on  one  sheet  of 
a  Boston  newspaper.  It  was  very  long.  Lincoln 
looked  it  over  wdth  great  gravity  and  said  :  "It  was 
very  kind  in  Mr.  Everett  to  send  me  this,  in  order  that 
I  might  not  go  over  the  same  ground  that  he  has. 
There  is  no  danger  that  I  shall.  My  speech  is  all 
blocked  out.     It  is  very  short." 

The  speech  was  written  out  in  Washington,  but  Lin- 
coln revised  it  somewhat  after  he  reached  Gettysburg. 
As  he  read  it  from  the  manuscript,  he  made  a  few 
verbal  changes.  These  changes  did  not  appear  in  the 
report  printed  at  the  time  by  the  newspapers,  but  they 


A  Difficult  Military  Situation         177 

were  embodied  in  the  draft  made  for  permanent  pub- 
lication, afterwards,  by  Lincoln.  As  delivered  and 
corrected  by  its  illustrious  author,  the  speech  was  as 
follows  : 

' '  Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought 
forth  on  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  lib- 
erty, and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are 
created  equal. 

' '  Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing 
whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so 
dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great 
battle-field  of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a 
portion  of  that  field,  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those 
who  here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live. 
It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do 
this. 

''  But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  can- 
not consecrate,  we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The 
brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here  have 
consecrated  it,  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or 
detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remem- 
ber, what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what 
they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be 
dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they  who 
fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is 
rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task 
remaining  before  us — that  from  these  honored  dead  we 
take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they 
gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion  —  that  we  here 
highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in 
vain  —  that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new 
birth  of  freedom  —  and  that  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the 
earth." 


12 


178  Abraham  Lincoln 

This  wonderful  address,  so  compact  of  wisdom  and 
the  simplest  elements  of  eloquence,  was  received  with 
becoming  solemnity.  But  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  oration  of  the  silver-tongued  Everett,  then  one  of 
the  most  admired  of  American  orators,  momentarily 
attracted  greater  attention.  The  very  shortness  of 
lyincoln's  little  speech  caused  it  to  be  almost  over- 
looked at  the  time.  But  in  a  few  days,  when  the 
people  of  the  country  at  large  had  fairly  digested  it, 
and  its  patriotic  and  human  lesson  had  sunk  into  the 
minds  of  men,  public  opinion  seized  upon  it  and  glori- 
fied it  as  one  of  the  few  masterpieces  in  oratory  that 
the  world  has  received. 


CHAPTER  XX 

POlwlTlCAl.   COMPI^ICATIONS 

AS  the  time  approached,  in  1864,  for  the  Republicans 
to  assemble  in  national  convention,  Lincoln 
made  no  sign  of  anxiety  for  a  renomination  by  his 
party.  In  conversation  with  one  of  his  friends  he  said  : 
**  I  am  only  the  people's  attorney  in  this  great  affair. 
I  am  trying  to  do  the  best  I  can  for  my  client  —  the 
country.  But  if  the  people  desire  to  change  their  at- 
torney, it  is  not  for  me  to  resist  or  complain.  Never- 
theless, between  you  and  me,  I  think  the  change  would 
be  impolitic,  whoever  might  be  substituted  for  the 
present  counsel."  To  another  he  said,  with  his  invet- 
erate habit  of  putting  a  large  truth  in  the  form  of  a 
pleasantry,  *'  I  don't  believe  it  is  wise  to  swap  horses 
while  crossing  a  stream."  In  truth,  after  men  had 
anxiously  canvassed  the  names  of  all  who  were  in  the 
least  worthy  to  be  considered  eligible  to  the  presidency, 
succeeding  Lincoln,  they  almost  invariably  returned  to 
him  as  the  only  man  to  be  thought  of  with  seriousness. 
One  of  the  important  military  events  of  that  winter 
was  the  appointment  of  General  Grant  to  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant-General.  Hitherto,  the  highest  rank  in  the 
army  had  been  that  of  Major- General.  The  title  of 
General-in-Chief,  borne  by  Halleck,  was  temporary,  a 
mere   expedient,    and   not   distinctly    recognized   by 

179 


i8o  Abraham  Lincoln 

usage.  The  rank  of  Lieutenant-Geiieral  was  created 
by  act  of  Congress,  with  the  tacit  understanding  that  it 
was  to  be  conferred  upon  Grant,  whose  almost  un- 
broken series  of  victories  in  the  West  had  by  this  time 
convinced  the  people  that  here  was  at  last  *'  the  com- 
ing man  "  for  whom  they  had  so  long  waited. 

Grant  arrived  in  Washington,  to  accept  his  new 
commission,  on  the  8th  of  March.  That  evening  there 
chanced  to  be  a  presidential  levee  at  the  White  House. 
It  was  a  public  reception,  open  to  all  who  chose  to 
come.  Thither  went  Grant,  entering  the  reception- 
room  unannounced.  He  was  instantly  recognized  by 
those  who  had  seen  his  portraits  printed  in  the  news- 
papers and  circulated  by  means  of  the  photographs 
then  becoming  common.  He  was  greeted  very  warmly, 
almost  affectionately,  by  Lincoln,  and  it  was  speedily 
noised  about  that  the  hero  of  Vicksburg  was  in  the 
rooms,  and  the  pressure  to  see  him  was  so  great  that 
the  modest  General  was  induced  to  stand  on  a  sofa, 
where  he  rose  above  the  crowd  and  was  regarded  with 
admiring  eyes.  When  he  bade  the  President  good- 
night, he  said,  "  This  is  a  warmer  campaign  than  I 
have  witnessed  during  the  war." 

Next  day,  by  appointment,  he  waited  upon  the  Presi- 
dent, who,  in  the  presence  of  members  of  the  Cabinet 
and  a  few  personal  friends,  presented  him  with  his 
commission,  saying  : 

"  General  Grant,  the  nation's  appreciation  of  what 
you  have  done,  and  its  reliance  upon  you  for  what  re- 
mains to  be  done  in  the  existing  great  struggle,  are 
now  presented  with  this  commission,  constituting  you 
Lieutenant- General  in  the  Army  of  the  United  States. 
With  this  high  honor  devolves  upon  you  also  a  corre- 
sponding responsibility.     As  the  country  here  intrusts 


Political  Complications  i8i 

you,  so,  under  God,  it  will  sustain  you.  I  need  scarcely 
add  that,  with  what  I  here  speak  for  the  nation,  goes 
my  own  hearty  personal  concurrence. ' ' 

General  Grant  accepted  the  commission  in  a  few 
modest  words  expressive  of  appreciation  of  the  high 
honor  conferred  upon  him,  and  acknowledging  his 
sense  of  responsibility,  his  dependence  upon  the  valor- 
ous armies,  and,  above  all,  as  he  said,  ' '  the  favor  of 
that  Providence  which  leads  both  nations  and  men." 
The  General  immediately  visited  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  of  which  General  Meade  still  retained  com- 
mand. Then  he  returned  to  Washington  where,  with- 
out his  knowledge,  a  dinner  for  him  had  been  arranged 
by  Mrs.  I^incoln,  at  the  White  House.  At  the  close 
of  an  important  interview  with  the  President,  during 
which  the  General  outlined  his  plan  of  military  opera- 
tions, as  far  as  they  could  be  arranged  at  that  time,  he 
announced  his  intention  of  leaving  at  once  for  the 
West.  lyincoln  told  him  of  the  expected  dinner,  but 
Grant  quietly  insisted  that  he  must  go.  *'  Besides," 
said  the  General,  *'  I  have  had  enough  of  this  show 
business,  Mr.  President."  And  the  General  left  for 
the  West  without  waiting  for  the  dinner  and  the  bril- 
liant invited  company.  This  incident  greatly  pleased 
Lincoln,  who,  up  to  that  time,  had  not  met  any  military 
officer  who  was  so  willing  to  forego  ''  the  show  busi- 
ness." 

Lincoln  was  not  unaware  of  political  movements 
against  him,  but  he  took  no  steps  to  counteract  them. 
When  he  was  told  that  some  of  his  opponents  were  con- 
sidering the  name  of  General  Grant  as  a  possible  candi- 
date for  the  presidency,  he  said  :  "  If  the  people  think 
that  General  Grant  can  end  the  Rebellion  sooner  by  be- 
ing in  this  place,  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  get  out  of  it." 


1 82  Abraham  Lincoln 

And  when  remonstrated  with,  on  account  of  his  mak- 
ing appointments  of  those  who  were  notoriously  opposed 
to  his  renomination,  he  said  :  '*  If  this  man  is  likely 
to  make  a  good  and  faithful  public  officer,  as  I  believe 
he  is,  have  I  any  right  to  inquire  further  ?  ' ' 

The  result  justified  this  calm  and  unruffled  con- 
fidence. The  Republican  national  convention  was 
held  in  Baltimore,  June  8,  1864.  The  only  strife  in  the 
convention  w^as  for  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  bring 
Lincoln's  name  before  the  delegates  for  their  approval. 
Lincoln  was  nominated  with  scarcely  a  dissenting  vote, 
and  in  the  midst  of  a  vociferous  enthusiasm  that  rivalled 
that  of  the  famous  Chicago  convention  of  i860,  w^hen 
the  name  of  the  son  of  the  backwoods  and  the  frontier 
was  first  brought  before  the  people  of  the  United  States 
as  a  candidate  for  the  chief  magistracy. 

In  accepting  the  nomination,  Lincoln  said:  **  I  view 
this  call  to  a  second  term  as  in  no  wise  more  flattering 
to  myself  than  as  an  expression  of  the  public  judgment 
that  I  may  better  finish  a  difficult  work  than  any  one 
less  severely  schooled  to  the  task."  At  that  time  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
forever  prohibiting  slavery,  was  pending,  and,  referring 
to  that,  Lincoln  said:  ''  Such  an  amendment  as  is  now 
proposed  becomes  a  fitting  and  necessary  conclusion  to 
the  final  success  of  the  Union  cause.  Such  alone  can 
meet  all  cavils.  The  unconditional  Union  men,  North 
and  South,  perceive  its  importance  and  embrace  it.  In 
the  joint  names  of  Liberty  and  Union,  let  us  labor  to 
give  it  legal  form  and  practical  effect." 

The  losses  of  the  war  required  that  fresh  levies  of 
troops  should  be  made.  Many  timid  people,  anxious 
for  Lincoln's  re-election,  advised  that  a  call  for  men 
and  the  enforcement  of  a  draft  should  be  put  off  until 


Political  Complications  183 

after  the  election  had  taken  place.  To  such  advice, 
lyincoln  turned  a  deaf  ear.  He  replied  that  more  men 
must  be  had,  if  the  war  was  to  go  on  to  a  successful 
termination,  and  that  the  consequences  to  him,  per- 
sonally, or  to  the  party  that  had  nominated  him,  were 
so  insignificant,  compared  with  the  actual  necessities  of 
the  country,  that  he  could  not  for  a  moment  consider 
them.  The  call  was  accordingly  issued  for  five  hun- 
dred thousand  men.  If  the  required  number  did  not 
appear  by  the  5th  of  September,  1864,  then  a  draft  must 
be  ordered.  Lincoln's  timorous  friends  were  aghast  at 
the  prospect. 

The  election  resulted  in  an  overwhelming  majority 
for  Lincoln.  Every  State  that  voted,  that  year,  de- 
clared for  Lincoln  and  Lincoln's  policy,  three  alone 
excepted.  These  were  Delaware,  Kentucky,  and  New 
Jersey.  The  two  first-named  were  formerly  slave- 
holding  States.  The  total  number  of  votes  cast  in  all 
the  States  was  4,015,902,  of  which  Lincoln  had  a  clear 
majority  of  411,428,  and  212  of  the  233  electoral  votes, 
McClellan  having  twenty-one  electoral  votes.  Lincoln 
very  naturally  felt  gratified  by  this  mark  of  popular 
approval  and  confidence.  He  said  this  to  the  first  party 
that  came  to  congratulate  him  on  his  re-election  —  a 
company  of  Pennsylvanians  in  Washington.  And  he 
added:  *'  If  I  know  my  heart,  my  gratitude  is  free  from 
any  taint  of  personal  triumph.  I  do  not  impugn  the 
motives  of  any  one  opposed  to  me.  It  is  no  pleasure  to 
me  to  triumph  over  any  one  ;  but  I  give  thanks  to  the 
Almighty  for  this  evidence  of  the  people's  resolution  to 
stand  by  free  government  and  the  rights  of  humanity." 

About  the  time  that  Lincoln  was  preparing  his  mes- 
sage to  Congress,  which  assembled  in  December  of  that 
year,  Sherman  was  on  his  way  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea. 


184  Abraham  Lincoln 

The  object  of  his  march  was  unknown  to  the  general 
public,  but  so  implicit  was  the  people's  confidence  in 
the  great  General  that  there  was  no  disquiet  as  to  his 
ultimate  success.  Lincoln  delayed  the  conclusion  of 
his  annual  message  as  long  as  possible,  hoping  to  be 
able  to  report  in  it  the  successful  termination  of  Sher- 
man's march  to  the  sea.  When  the  message  was  sent 
to  Congress,  he  contented  himself  with  a  vague  refer- 
ence to  Sherman's  movements,  from  which,  he  inti- 
mated, good  results  would  come. 

While  this  message  was  in  course  of  preparation,  he 
had  an  interview  with  two  ladies,  wives  of  rebel  ofiicers, 
prisoners  of  war  in  one  of  the  federal  strongholds  of  the 
North.  Taking  one  of  the  stiff  strips  of  cardboard  on 
which  his  message  was  first  sketched,  he  wrote  out  and 
gave  to  a  personal  friend  a  report  of  the  interview, 
which  he  called  *'  the  President's  last,  shortest,  and 
best  speech."  This  he  submitted  to  the  critical  judg- 
ment of  his  friend,  adding  that,  if  he  thought  it  worth 
while,  it  might  be  printed  in  the  newspapers.  It  was 
as  follows  : 

"  On  Thursday  of  last  week  two  ladies  from  Tennes- 
see came  before  the  President,  asking  the  release  of 
their  husbands,  held  as  prisoners  of  war  at  Johnson's 
Island.  They  were  put  off  until  Friday,  when  they 
came  again,  and  were  again  put  off  until  Saturday. 
At  each  of  the  interviews  one  of  the  ladies  urged  that 
her  husband  was  a  religious  man.  On  Saturday,  when 
the  President  ordered  the  release  of  the  prisoners,  he 
said  to  this  lady:  '  You  say  your  husband  is  a  religious 
man  ;  tell  him  when  j^ou  meet  him  that  I  say  I  am  not 
much  of  a  judge  of  religion,  but  that,  in  my  opinion, 
the  religion  that  sets  men  to  rebel  and  fight  against 
their  government  because,  as  they  think,  that  govern- 


Political  Complications  185 

inent  does  not  sufficiently  help  some  men  to  eat  their 
bread  in  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces,  is  not  the  sort 
of  religion  upon  which  people  can  get  to  heaven.'  " 

The  second  inauguration  of  Lincoln  took  place 
March  4,  1865.  The  day  was  dark  and  dismal  in  the 
opening  hours,  but  the  rain  ceased  when  the  procession 
from  the  White  House  to  the  Capitol  began  to  move  ; 
and  as  Lincoln  rose  to  deliver  his  inaugural  address 
the  sun  burst  through  the  clouds,  irradiating  the  scene 
with  splendor  and  light.  With  a  clear,  resonant  voice, 
standing  bareheaded  under  the  March  sky, now  softened 
and  suffused  with  sunlight,  Lincoln  pronounced  his 
masterly  address,  as  follows  : 

"  FkIvLOw-Countrymkn  :  At  this  season,  appearing 
to  take  the  oath  of  the  presidential  office,  there  is  less 
occasion  for  an  extended  address  than  there  was  at 
first.  Then,  a  statement  somewhat  in  detail  of  a 
course  to  be  pursued  seemed  very  fitting  and  proper. 
Now,  at  the  expiration  of  four  years,  during  which 
public  declarations  have  been  constantly  called  forth 
on  every  point  and  phase  of  the  great  contest  which 
still  absorbs  the  attention  and  engrosses  the  energies 
of  the  nation,  little  that  is  new  could  be  presented. 
The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly 
depends,  is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself, 
and  it  is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satisfactory  and  encourag- 
ing to  all.  With  high  hope  for  the  future,  no  predic- 
tion in  regard  to  it  is  ventured. 

' '  On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this,  four  years 
ago,  all  thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  im- 
pending civil  war.  All  dreaded  it,  all  sought  to  avoid 
it.  While  the  inaugural  address  was  being  delivered 
from  this  place,  devoted  altogether  to  saving  the  Union 
without  war,  insurgent  agents  were  in  the  city,  seeking 


1 86  Abraham  Lincoln 

to  destroy  it  with  war — seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union, 
and  divide  the  effects  by  negotiation.  Both  parties 
deprecated  war,  but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather 
than  let  the  nation  survive,  and  the  other  would  accept 
war  rather  than  let  it  perish  ;  and  the  war  came.  One 
eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  colored  slaves,  not 
distributed  generally  over  the  Union,  but  localized  in 
the  southern  part  of  it.  These  slaves  constituted  a 
peculiar  and  powerful  interest.  All  knew  that  this  in- 
terest was  somehow  the  cause  of  the  war.  To  strengthen, 
perpetuate,  and  extend  this  interest,  was  the  object  for 
which  the  insurgents  would  rend  the  Union  b}^  war, 
while  the  government  claimed  no  right  to  do  more  than 
to  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement  of  it. 

*'  Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude 
or  the  duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither 
anticipated  that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease 
with,  or  even  before  the  conflict  itself  should  cease. 
Each  looked  for  an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result  less 
fundamental  and  astounding. 

**  Both  read  the  same  Bible,  and  pray  to  the  same 
God,  and  each  invokes  his  aid  against  the  other.  It 
may  seem  strange  that  any  men  should  dare  to  ask  a 
just  God's  assistance  in  wringing  their  bread  from  the 
sweat  of  other  men's  faces.  But  let  us  judge  not,  that 
we  be  not  judged.  The  prayer  of  both  could  not  be 
answ^ered.  That  of  neither  has  been  answered  fully. 
The  Almight}^  has  his  own  purposes.  '  Woe  unto  the 
world  because  of  offences,  for  it  must  needs  be  that 
offences  come,  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offence 
cometh  !  '  If  we  shall  suppose  that  American  slavery 
is  one  of  these  offences,  which  in  the  providence  of  God 
must  needs  come,  but  which,  having  continued  through 
his  appointed  time,  he  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that 


Political  Complications  187 

he  gives  to  both  North  and  South  this  terrible  war  as 
the  woe  due  to  thOvSe  by  whom  the  offence  came,  shall 
we  discern  there  any  departure  from  those  divine  attri- 
butes which  the  believers  in  a  living  God  always 
ascribe  to  him  ?  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we 
pray,  that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass 
awa}'.  Yet  if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all  the 
wealth  piled  b}^  the  bondsman's  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every 
drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  an- 
other drawn  by  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand 
years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  that  *  the  judgments 
of  the  lyord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether. ' 

' '  With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's 
wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle, 
and  for  his  widow  and  his  orphans,  to  do  all  which  may 
achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among 
ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  effect  of  the  reading 
of  this  paper  upon  those  who  heard  it  and  those  who 
subsequently  read  it.  Its  lofty  tone  and  grand  majesty 
reminded  one  of  the  Hebraic  prophecies  ;  and  its  dis- 
passionate and  almost  merciless  dissection  of  the  issues 
of  the  struggle  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and 
the  dying  contortions  of  the  monster,  slavery,  were  re- 
ceived with  a  feeling  of  awe.  The  impression  made  by 
the  inaugural  was  profound.  It  was  conclusive  of  the 
genius  and  the  intellectual  greatness  of  its  author. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
e;nd  of  a  strange,  evkntfui,  history 

THE)  spring  of  1865  opened  with  every  prospect  of  a 
speedy  and  complete  ending  of  the  Rebellion. 
Sherman's  march  to  the  sea  had  once  more  rent  the 
dying  Confederacy  even  more  disastrously  than  the 
opening  of  the  Mississippi  had  previously  split  it  into 
two  large  fragments.  Everywhere,  on  land  and  sea, 
the  arms  of  the  Union  had  been  crowned  with  victory. 
Sherman's  movements  in  the  Carolinas  had  compelled 
the  abandonment  of  Charleston.  The  capture  of  Fort 
Fisher  by  General  Terry  had  virtually  closed  the  last 
Atlantic  port  against  possible  supplies  from  abroad  for 
the  rebel  forces.  The  scattered  remnants  of  their 
armies  were  forced  to  concentrate  and  rally  around  lyce 
for  the  defence  of  the  rebel  capital. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  a  conference  of  I^incoln, 
Grant,  and  Sherman  was  held  on  board  of  a  steamer 
lying  in  the  James  River,  near  Grant's  headquarters, 
at  which  the  final  and  decisive  measures  of  the  cam- 
paign were  discussed.  Sheridan,  who  had  been 
manoeuvring  far  to  Grant's  left,  by  dint  of  ten  days' 
rapid  marching  and  almost  incessant  fighting,  had  cut 
ofif  the  last  avenue  of  lyce's  escape  southward,  and  had 
made  his  surrender  merely  a  matter  of  a  few  days,  at 
the  furthest.      Closely  followed  by  Grant,   Sheridan 

188 


End  of  a  Strange,  Eventful  History     189 

had  now  drawn  a  line  completely  around  Usee's  army, 
cutting  it  oS  from  food  and  supplies.  Petersburg  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  victorious  Union  troops,  and  on 
Monday  morning,  April  3d,  the  federal  troops  hoisted 
the  flag  of  the  Union  over  the  building  in  Richmond 
that  had  been  occupied  by  the  rebel  Congress. 

I^incoln  was  at  City  Point,  near  Grant's  old  head- 
quarters, waiting  for  the  final  and  great  result  of  all 
these  military  movements.  Accompanied  by  Tad,  he 
entered  the  fallen  capital  of  the  Confederacy  as  soon  as 
possible  after  the  news  of  its  downfall  reached  him. 
Unattended,  save  by  a  boat's  crew  from  a  gunboat  near 
at  hand,  and  leading  his  little  boy  by  the  hand,  Lin- 
coln entered  the  late  capital  of  the  rebel  Confederacy, 
over  which  the  national  ensign  now  peacefully  waved. 
He  walked  as  one  in  a  dream.  Richmond,  so  long  and 
so  painfully  the  object  of  Union  hopes  and  desires,  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  United  States,  its  Congress  and 
bureaus  dispersed,  and  the  members  of  its  exploded 
government  fugitives. 

Multitudes  of  colored  people,  apparently  the  only 
persons  left  in  the  city,  flocked  around  the  Liberator. 
They  rent  the  air  with  their  frenzied  shouts.  They 
danced,  they  sang,  they  prayed  for  blessings  on  the 
head  of  their  deliverer;  they  wept,  kneeling  at  his  feet. 
In  that  supreme  moment  Lincoln  was  speechless.  He 
wore  no  look  of  triumph  over  a  fallen  foe,  evidences  of 
whose  poverty  and  great  trial  were  thick  about  him. 
The  tears  streamed  down  his  cheeks,  furrowed  with 
many  cares,  and,  simply  bowing  his  thanks,  or  raising 
his  hat  to  the  jubilant  and  almost  hysterical  crowds  of 
freed  persons,  he  passed  on  to  the  interior  of  the  city. 
The  statesman  reared  by  God's  wonderful  providence 
and  disciplined  in  the  rough  school  of  adversity,  with 


IQO  Abraham   Lincoln 

the  memories  of  his  hard  struggle  in  life  still  upon  him, 
was  in  the  last  stronghold  of  the  broken  slave  power. 

Meanwhile,  Grant  and  Sheridan  were  drawing  their 
lines  more  closely  about  the  rebel  army  under  Lee, 
who,  like  a  hunted  fox,  vainly  turned  this  way  and 
that  to  escape  the  net  in  which  he  was  enveloped. 
Grant  tarried  at  Petersburg  long  enough  to  meet  the 
President,  who  pressed  on  to  see  him  for  a  moment. 
The  two  men  met.  Lincoln  seized  Grant  by  the  hands, 
and  poured  forth  his  thanks  and  congratulations  with 
a  glowing  radiance  on  his  countenance. 

The  North  was  delirious  with  joy.  First  came  the 
news  of  the  capture  of  Petersburg,  announced  in  a 
despatch  from  President  Lincoln  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment, and  received  in  Washington  about  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning  of  the  3d  of  April.  Three  quarters  of  an 
hour  later  a  despatch  from  General  Weitzel  told  the 
glad  tidings  of  the  fall  of  Richmond.  Although  Lee 
had  not  been  overtaken,  these  despatches  were  sufficient 
to  set  the  people  wild.  The  end  of  the  Rebellion  was  at 
hand.  Davis  a  fugitive,  men  recognized  Lee  as  the 
real  head  of  the  Rebellion,  but  did  not  wait  to  hear  of 
his  surrender.  The  national  capital  was  in  a  tumult 
of  excitement  and  triumph.  Thence  the  wave  spread 
all  over  the  country  ;  the  news  penetrated  remote  vil- 
lages and  hamlets  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time. 
Flags  were  spread  to  the  breeze.  Guns  were  fired,  and 
bands,  processions,  and  every  outward  form  of  jubila- 
tion were  used  to  express  the  joy  of  the  people.  The 
prevailing  feeling  was  not  one  of  victory  over  a  fallen 
foe,  but  of  relief  that  the  war  was  over.  No  more 
fighting  ;  no  more  dying  on  fields  of  battle  ;  no 
more  enlistments  and  drafts  ;  no  more  anxious  meas- 
ures for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union.     The  war  was 


End  of  a  Strange,  Eventful   History     191 

over.  This  was  the  burden  of  the  song  that  flowed 
from  the  hearts  of  millions  of  men  and  women,  relieved 
at  last  from  an  intolerable  trial  of  patience. 

In  Washington,  the  rejoicings  took  the  form  of  a 
national  celebration  ;  the  public  departments  were 
closed  as  for  a  holiday.  Flags  flew  from  all  the  Gov- 
ernment buildings,  and  the  War  Department  ordered  a 
salute  of  eight  hundred  guns,  five  hundred  for  Rich- 
mond and  three  hundred  for  Petersburg.  Bands 
paraded  the  streets,  and  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  in 
the  absence  of  the  President,  were  called  out  to  address 
the  excited  crowds.  Congress  had  adjourned,  but  the 
city  was  full  of  congressmen  ;  and  multitudes  of  men, 
bent  on  seeing  the  end  of  the  Rebellion  as  it  was  cele- 
brated in  the  capital  of  the  nation,  had  gone  thither. 
The  cheering  and  the  congratulations  lasted  far  into 
the  night.  The  city  was  given  up  to  a  mighty  im- 
promptu festivity.  On  the  following  day,  these  demon- 
strations were  renewed,  and  on  the  night  of  the  4th  of 
April  the  city  was  illuminated.  Public  and  private 
buildings  were  a  blaze  of  light,  and  bonfires,  fireworks, 
and  every  possible  contrivance  for  the  making  of  light 
and  noise  were  resorted  to  by  the  happy  people. 

L,ate  in  the  night  of  April  8th,  Palm  Sunday,  the 
news  of  the  surrender  of  Lee  reached  Washington  and 
was  communicated  to  I^incoln,  who  had  returned  and 
was  waiting  for  it.  Once  more  the  capital  went  wild 
with  joy.  The  city  took  a  general  holiday.  Once 
more  the  air  resounded  with  the  boom  of  cannon  and 
the  blare  of  martial  music.  Government  clerks  as- 
sembled in  the  great  rotunda  of  the  Treasury  building 
and  sang,  ''  Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 

On  the  evening  of  the  nth  of  April,  Washington 
was  illuminated  by  the  Government,  and  again  every 


192  Abraham  Lincoln 

possible  token  of  national  rejoicing  was  put  into  requi- 
sition. It  was  a  notable,  even  an  historic  occasion. 
At  last  the  war  was  over.  Outside  of  the  White  House 
was  a  vast  crowd,  cheering  and  shouting  with  a  roar 
like  that  of  the  sea.  A  small  battery  from  the  navy 
yard  occasionally  rent  the  air  with  a  salute,  and  the 
clamor  of  brass  bands  and  the  hissing  of  fireworks 
added  to  the  confusion  and  racket  in  front  of  the  man- 
sion. Inside  of  the  house,  at  one  of  the  front  windows 
on  the  right  of  the  staircase,  was  old  Edward,  the  con- 
servative and  dignified  butler  of  the  White  House, 
struggling  with  Tad  and  trying  to  drag  him  back  from 
the  window,  from  which  he  was  waving  a  confederate 
flag,  captured  in  some  fight  and  given  to  the  boy. 
The  crowd  recognized  Tad,  who  frantically  waved  the 
flag  as  he  fought  with  Edward,  while  the  people  roared 
with  delight. 

Edward  conquered,  and,  followed  by  a  parting  cheer 
from  the  throng  below.  Tad  rushed  to  his  father  with 
his  complaints.  But  the  President,  just  then  approach- 
ing the  centre  window  overlooking  the  portico,  stood 
with  a  beaming  face  before  the  vast  assembly  beneath, 
and  the  mighty  cheer  that  arose  drowned  all  other 
sounds.  The  speech  began  with  the  words,  ' '  We  meet 
this  evening,  not  in  sorrow,  but  in  gladness  of  heart." 

As  Eincoln  spoke,  the  multitude  below  was  as  silent 
as  if  the  great  courtyard  were  deserted.  Then,  as  his 
speech  was  written  on  loose  sheets,  and  the  candles 
placed  for  him  were  too  low,  he  took  a  light  in  his 
hand  and  went  on  with  his  reading.  Soon,  coming  to 
the  end  of  a  page,  he  found  some  difficulty  in  handling 
the  manuscript  and  holding  the  candlestick.  A  friend 
who  stood  behind  the  drapery  of  the  window  reached 
out  and  took  the  candle,  and  held  it  until  the  end  of 


End  of  a  Strange,  Eventful  History     193 

the  speech,  and  the  President  let  the  loose  pages  fall 
on  the  floor  one  by  one,  Tad  picking  them  up  as  they 
fell  and  impatiently  calling  for  more  as  they  fluttered 
from  his  father's  hand. 

Lincoln  had  made  his  last  speech.  Great  events 
hurried  after  each  other  from  that  night  to  the  morn- 
ing of  the  14th  of  April,  1865.  These  marked  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  last  vestiges  of  the  fallen  and  broken 
Confederacy.  At  noon  on  the  14th  was  held  the  last 
meeting  of  the  Cabinet,  at  which  General  Grant  was 
present.  While  waiting  for  the  latest  arrival  of  the 
Ministers,  lyincoln  was  observed  to  wear  a  grave  look. 
He  explained  that  he  had  had  a  strange  dream  —  a  re- 
markable presentiment.  What  it  was  he  did  not  say, 
but  abruptly  proceeded  to  business.  After  the  Cabinet 
meeting,  he  drove  out  for  an  hour  with  Mrs.  I^incoln, 
talking  cheerfully  about  their  plans  for  the  future  and 
what  would  be  possible  and  best  for  them  and  the  boys 
when  they  should  finally  leave  the  White  House,  at  the 
end  of  his  second  term.  Mrs.  lyincoln  desired  to  visit 
Europe,  and  I^incoln  was  not  wholly  certain  whether  it 
would  be  best  to  fix  his  residence  finally  in  his  old 
home  in  Springfield,  or  in  California,  where  he  thought 
the  boys  might  have  a  better  start  in  life  than  in  any  of 
the  older  portions  of  the  Republic. 

That  night,  as  had  been  arranged,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lincoln,  accompanied  by  General  Grant  and  a  few 
personal  friends,  were  to  visit  the  theatre.  The  fact 
had  been  announced  in  the  newspapers,  and  an  un- 
usually large  audience  collected.  General  Grant  was 
detained  by  business,  and  the  President,  Mrs.  Lincoln, 
Miss  Clara  Harris  (a  daughter  of  Senator  Ira  Harris, 
of  New  York),  and  Major  Rathbone,  of  the  army,  occu- 
pied a  box  near  the  stage,  in  the  upper  tier  of  boxes. 


194  Abraham  Lincoln 

John  Wilkes  Booth,  an  actor,  had  conspired  with  cer- 
tain others  to  take  the  President's  life  on  the  first  con- 
venient occasion.  This  man,  so  far  as  known,  had  no 
personal  grievance  of  which  to  complain.  He  had  been 
possessed  by  an  insane  notion  that  Lincoln  was  an  in- 
human tyrant  whose  death  was  desirable.  He  and  his 
companions  had  made  their  plans  with  great  care  and 
forethought.  On  this  night  he  had  a  fleet  horse  ready 
in  the  rear  of  the  theatre  to  bear  him  away  when  the 
deed  should  be  done. 

At  half-past  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  while  those 
present  were  absorbed  in  what  was  happening  on  the 
stage,  the  assassin,  who  had  passed  unnoticed  into  the 
rear  of  the  box  occupied  by  the  President  and  his 
friends,  held  a  pistol  within  a  few  inches  of  the  head 
of  Lincoln,  near  the  base  of  the  brain,  and  fired.  The 
ball  entered  the  brain,  and  Lincoln  fell  forward  insen- 
sible. The  shot  startled  the  great  audience,  but  the 
position  of  the  box  did  not  allow  many  to  see  what  had 
happened.  Major  Rathbone  sprang  to  his  feet  and  at- 
tempted to  seize  the  assassin,  who,  drawing  a  long 
knife,  stabbed  Rathbone  in  the  arm,  and  profiting  by 
the  Major's  repulse,  jumped  from  the  box  to  the  stage. 
Striding  across  the  stage,  he  brandished  the  knife,  cry- 
ing: '*  Sic  semper  tyrannis  !  " — the  motto  of  the  State 
of  Virginia — *' Ever  so  to  tyrants."  Then  adding, 
"  The  South  is  avenged  !  "  he  vanished  and  was  seen 
no  more. 

In  the  midst  of  confusion  and  lamentation  indescrib- 
able, the  insensible  form  of  Lincoln  was  carried  from 
the  theatre  to  a  private  residence  across  the  street,  and 
his  family  were  sent  for,  and  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment made  haste  to  assemble.  Robert  Lincoln,  his 
mother,  the  Secretaries  of  the  President,  members  of 


End  of  a  Strange,  Eventful  History     195 

the  Cabinet,  and  a  few  of  the  personal  friends  of  the 
family  watched  by  the  bed  of  the  dying  President 
through  the  night.  No  human  skill  could  save  that 
precious  life,  and  all  that  science  could  do  was  merely 
to  support  the  vigorous  and  well-trained  natural  powers 
as  the}^  struggled  involuntarily  with  approaching  death. 
The  President  uttered  no  word,  and  gave  no  sign  of 
being  conscious  of  what  had  taken  place,  or  of  the 
presence  of  those  about  him.  The  tremulous  whispers 
of  medical  attendants,  the  suppressed  sobs  of  strong 
men,  and  the  labored  breathing  of  the  dying  man  were 
the  only  sounds  that  broke  the  stillness  of  the  chamber. 
At  twenty-two  minutes  past  seven  o'clock,  on  the 
morning  of  April  15th,  the  mighty  heart  had  ceased  to 
beat.     Lincoln  was  dead. 

As  the  sun  rose  red  over  Washington,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  April  15th,  the  body  of  lyincoln  was  carried  to 
the  White  House,  followed  by  a  little  procession  of 
weeping  but  stern-faced  men.  Grief  and  a  vague  de- 
sire for  revenge  for  this  cruel  and  needless  crime 
struggled  for  the  mastery.  This  was  the  feeling  all 
over  the  country,  when  the  heavy  tidings  of  the  foul 
and  most  unnatural  murder  went  forth  over  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land.  Flags  that  had  been  flying 
in  triumph  were  lowered  to  half-mast  in  sorrow.  It  is 
no  stretch  of  imagination  to  say  that  a  great  wave  of 
lamentation,  spontaneous  and  exceeding  bitter,  swept 
over  the  Republic.  Bells  were  tolled  and  minute- 
guns  were  fired.  For  days  all  ordinary  business,  except 
that  of  the  most  imperative  importance,  was  practically 
suspended,  and  the  nation  seemed  abandoned  to  its 
mighty  grief. 

On  Wednesday,  April  19th,  the  funeral  of  the  dead 
President  took  place  at  the  White  House,  in  the  midst 


ig6  Abraham  Lincoln 

of  an  assemblage  of  the  chief  men  of  the  nation.  From 
the  mansion  in  which  the  beloved  I^incoln  had  suffered 
and  toiled  so  much  for  the  good  of  the  people,  his  form 
was  carried  to  the  Capitol  of  the  nation,  in  the  rotunda 
of  which  it  lay  in  state  for  one  day,  guarded  by  a  com- 
pany of  high  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  and  a  de- 
tachment of  soldiers.  Thousands  of  men,  women,  and 
children  passed  through  the  building  to  take  their  last 
look  at  the  face  of  Lincoln,  white  in  his  coffin.  It  was 
a  memorable  spectacle,  and  sighs  and  sobs  attested  the 
genuine  grief  of  those  who  crowded  in  weeping  throngs 
to  see  the  Emancipator  for  the  last  time. 

Lincoln  was  buried  in  Oak  Ridge  Cemetery,  near 
Springfield,  Illinois.  The  funeral  train  left  Washing- 
ton on  the  2ist  of  April,  and  traversed  nearly  the  same 
route  that  had  been  passed  over  by  the  train  that  bore 
him,  President-elect,  from  Springfield  to  Washington 
five  years  before.  It  was  a  funeral  unique,  wonderful. 
Nearly  two  thousand  miles  were  traversed ;  the  people 
lined  the  entire  distance,  almost  without  an  interval, 
standing  with  uncovered  heads,  mute  with  grief,  as  the 
sombre  cortege  swept  by.  Even  night  and  falling 
showers  did  not  keep  them  away  from  the  line  of  the 
sad  procession.  Watch-fires  blazed  along  the  route  in 
the  darkness,  and  by  day  every  device  that  could  lend 
picturesqueness  to  the  mournful  scene  and  express  the 
woe  of  the  people  was  employed. 

In  some  of  the  larger  cities  the  coffin  of  the  illustrious 
dead  was  lifted  from  the  funeral  train  and  carried 
through,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  attended  by  mighty 
processions  of  citizens,  forming  a  funeral  pageant  of 
proportions  so  magnificent  and  imposing  that  the  world 
has  never  since  seen  the  like.  Thus,  honored  in  his 
funeral,  guarded  to  his  grave  by  famed  and  battle- 


End  of  a  Strange,   Eventful  History     197 

scarred  generals  of  the  army,  Lincoln's  body  was  laid 
to  rest  at  last  near  his  old  home.  Friends,  neighbors, 
men  who  had  known  and  loved  homely  and  kindly 
Honest  Abe  Lincoln,  assembled  to  pay  their  final  tribute 
of  affection  and  honor  at  his  burying-place.  And  with 
the  remains  of  his  darling  little  son  Willie  by  his  side, 
he  was  left  whose  life  had  begun  in  the  poverty  and 
obscurity  of  an  American  wilderness,  and  ended  in  the 
full  blaze  of  the  white  light  that  beats  upon  a  place 
conspicuous  in  the  world's  wide  fame. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  whole  civilized  world  were  arrested 
in  its  daily  concerns  of  life  by  this  tragic  calamity. 
From  every  quarter  of  the  globe  —  from  kings  and 
queens,  emperors,  senates,  and  legislative  assemblies, 
from  private  individuals,  high  and  low,  and  from  con- 
vocations of  the  plain  people  of  many  lands — came  mes- 
sages of  sympathy,  condolence,  respect,  and  sincere 
sorrow.  It  was  a  tribute,  unprecedented  and  spon- 
taneous, to  the  ended  life  and  completed  services  of 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

It  would  be  hard  to  better  the  words  of  Lowell,  fore- 
shadowing as  they  did  in  1865  the  conclusions  of  time 
and  calmer  judgment  : 

"  People  of  more  sensitive  organizations  may  be 
shocked,  but  we  are  glad  that  in  this  our  true  war  of 
independence,  which  is  to  free  us  forever  from  the  Old 
World,  we  have  had  at  the  head  of  our  affairs  a  man 
whom  America  made,  as  God  made  Adam,  out  of  the 
very  earth,  unancestried,  unprivileged,  unknown,  to 
show  us  how  much  truth,  how  much  magnanimity,  and 
how  much  statecraft  await  the  call  of  opportunity  in 
simple  manhood  when  it  believes  in  the  justice  of  God 
and  the  worth  of  man. 


198  Abraham  Lincoln 


(  c 


On  the  day  of  his  death,  this  simple  Western  at- 
torney, who,  according  to  one  party  was  a  vulgar  joker, 
and  whom  the  doctrinaires  among  his  own  supporters 
accused  of  wanting  every  element  of  statesmanship, 
was  the  most  absolute  ruler  in  Christendom,  and  this 
solely  by  the  hold  his  good-humored  sagacity  had  laid 
on  the  hearts  and  understandings  of  his  countrymen. 
Nor  was  this  all,  for  it  appeared  that  he  had  drawn  the 
great  majority,  not  only  of  his  fellow-citizens,  but  of 
mankind  also,  to  his  side.  So  strong  and  so  persuasive 
is  honest  manliness  without  a  single  quality  of  romance 
or  unreal  sentiment  to  help  it." 

As  lyowell's  was  among  the  earliest  and  truest  esti- 
mates of  Lincoln's  worth,  so,  thirty-five  years  later  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  following  from  the 
lips  of  a  Southern  partisan  ^  affords  a  striking  instance 
of  the  triumph  of  Lincoln's  statesmanship  : 

**  The  condition  in  regard  to  slavery  and  the  cease- 
less agitation  had  embittered  the  South  against  the 
North  and  the  North  against  the  South.  Secession 
and  belief  in  States'  rights,  for  which  the  South  has 
always  contended,  precipitated  the  conflict.  The  North 
fought  to  preserve  the  Union  and  to  free  the  slaves,  and 
the  South  fought  for  self-government  and  the  inherited 
belief  in  the  justice  of  holding  slaves  as  property.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  the  slogan  of  both 
sections.  The  North  contended  that  the  Declaration 
embraced  the  negroes,  while  the  South,  remembering 
that  Jefferson  had  been  a  slaveholder,  contended  that 
it  did  not.  I  was  only  a  boy  of  thirteen  when  the 
great  struggle  began ;  but  who  can  forget,  even  though 

^  Senator  Tillman,  January  29,  19CX), 


End  of  a  Strange,   Eventful  History     199 

a  child,  the  angry  outbursts,  the  battle-cries  that  had 
led  up  to  the  bloody  contest  ? 

* '  Amid  the  storm  of  passion,  who  was  the  man,  the 
embodiment  of  all  that  was  best  and  noblest  in  Northern 
civilization,  and  even  in  American  civilization,  who 
stood  as  the  great  apostle  of  liberty  ?  Whose  words  of 
fervid  eloquence  marshalled  the  Northern  hosts  ? 
Whose  high  moral  purpose,  whose  grandeur  of  char- 
acter and  greatness  of  soul  sustained  those  hosts  in  ad- 
versity and  defeat  ?  Who  stood  like  a  Colossus  towering 
above  the  smaller,  meaner  men  who  surrounded  him, 
and  who  must  ever  stand  above  them,  commanding  the 
admiration  and  love  of  all  true  men  everywhere  ?  Who  ? 
Abraham  lyincoln  ;  and  I  from  South  Carolina  tell  you 
so  and  feel  honored  in  doing  it. 

'*  Whatever  motives  may  be  attributed  to  others, 
whatever  of  selfishness  or  ambition  that  entered  into 
the  calculations  of  others,  I  here  declare  it  is  my  belief 
that  he  never  had  a  thought  in  connection  with  the 
whole  subject  nor  uttered  a  word  that  did  not  have  its 
inspiration  in  the  purest  patriotism  and  the  noblest 
aspiration  for  humanity.  He  did  not  consider  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  an  academic  question.  It 
was  to  him  a  religion." 

The  author  of  this  brief  biography  has  imperfectly 
carried  out  his  purpose  if  he  has  failed  to  show  how 
the  character  of  lyincoln  was  developed  and  shaped  by 
his  early  training  ;  how  he  was  raised  up  and  fitted,  in 
the  obscure  seclusion  of  humble  life,  by  the  providence 
of  God,  for  a  special  and  peculiar  service  ;  how  he  be- 
came the  type,  flower,  and  representative  of  all  that  is 
worthily  American  ;  how  in  him  the  commonest  of  hu- 
man traits  were  blended  with  an  all-embracing  charity 


200  Abraham  Lincoln 

and  the  highest  human  wisdom  ;  and  how,  with  single- 
hearted  devotion  to  the  right,  he  lived  unselfishl}^,  void 
of  selfish  personal  ambition,  and,  dying  tragicalh',  left 
a  name  to  be  remembered  with  love  and  honor  as  one 
of  the  best  and  greatest  of  mankind. 


INDEX. 


Adams,  Charles  Francis,  75. 
Adams,  John  Quincy,  72. 
Albany,  139. 

Anderson,  Robert,  39,  149-50. 
Antietam,  162,  167,  169,  175, 
Armstrong,  Jack,  34-5,  88-9. 
Armstrong,  William  D.,  88-9. 
Army   of  the   Potomac,    165, 

167,  169,  172,  181. 
Arthur,  Chester  A.,  80. 
Ashland,  69. 
Ashmun,  131. 
Atchison,  David,  98-9. 

Bailey  vs.  Cromwell,  86. 
Baker,  K.  D.,  49,  56,  58,  66, 

79,  80,  87,  145. 
Baltimore,  126,  140. 
Barn-burners,  75. 
Beauregard,  General,  150. 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  121. 
Bell,  John,  126. 
Berry,  42,  44. 
Black  Hawk  War,  38,  83,  107, 

149. 
"Blue  Lodges,"  102. 
Boone,  Daniel,  5. 
Booth,  John  Wilkes,  194. 
Breckinridge,  John  C.,  23, 127, 

133- 
Brown,  John,  99-100. 

Bryant,    William   Cullen,   76, 

121. 
Buchanan,    James,     136,    144, 

148. 
Buena  Vista,  67,  74. 
Bull  Run,  151. 
Burns's  Poems ^  20. 


Burnside,  A.  E.,  167,  169. 
Butterfield,  Daniel,  172. 

Calhoun,  John  C,  72. 
California,  78. 
Cameron,  Simon,  128. 
Camp,  half-faced,  9,  13. 
Cartwright,  Peter,  69. 
Case,  84-6. 

Cass,  Lewis,  39,  40,  72-3,  76-7. 
Cerro  Gordo,  79. 
Chambersburg ,  168. 
Chancellorsville ,  172. 
Charleston,    S.    C,    126,    149, 

188. 
Chase,  Salmon  P.,  76,  128. 
Chicago,  no. 
Choate,  Joseph,  121. 
Cincinnati,  121,  137. 
Clary's  Grove,  34-5,  38,  42,  88. 
Clay,  Henry,  38,  68,  74. 
Confederacy,    144,    148,    153, 

188-9. 
Cooper's  novels,  20. 
Cooper  Union,  121,  125,  139. 
Crockett,  Davy,  84. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  72,  150,  190. 
Decatur,  111.,  30,  81. 
District  of  Columbia,  78,  159. 
Dix,  John  A.,  72. 
Dorsey,  Hazel,  21. 
Douglas,  Stephen  Arnold,  50, 

56,  72-3,  92-7,  103-5,  109-18, 
127,  132-3,  145,  147. 
Dred  Scott,  108-9,  i44' 

Electoral  vote,  77,  133,  183. 


201 


202 


Index 


Elkin,  Parson,  5,  14. 
Emancipation  Proclamation, 

160,  162-4. 
Euclid,  22.  115. 
Evarts,  William  M.,  129. 
Everett,  Edward,  126,  176. 

Forqner,  George,  48. 
Fredericksburg,  169. 
Free  Soilers,  75-6,  77. 
Fremont,  Jobn  C,  129,  156. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  80. 
Gentry,  Mr.,  26-7,  30. 
Gettysburg,  152,  173,  175-8. 
Goose  Nest  Prairie,  81. 
Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  76,  179-81, 

188,  190,  193. 
Greelej',  Horace,  160. 
Greene,  Bolin,  45. 

Halleck,  H.  W.,  172,  179. 
Hamlin,  Hannibal,  130. 
Hanks,  Dennis,  13,  15,  19,  24, 

81. 
Hanks,  John,  32,  33. 
Hanks,  Nancy,  3-15,  106. 
Hanks,  Thomas,  30-1,  119-20. 
Hardin,  J.  J.,  50,  67. 
Harper's  Ferry,  167. 
Harrisburg,  141-3. 
Harrison,  William  Henry,  57, 

64,  73,  75. 
Hazel,  Caleb,  4. 
Herndon,  W.  H.,  55,  77,  87, 

90,  104. 
Hinkle,  87. 

Hooker,  Joseph,  170-2. 
Hunter,  David,  157. 

Independence  Hall,  141. 
Indianapolis,  136. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  72. 
Johnson,  John,  19,  32,  81-3. 
Johnson,  Mrs.  Sally  Bush,  18- 

21,  82. 
Judd,  128. 


Kansas,  91-6,  98-103,  109,  120. 
Kirkpatrick,  38. 

Lane,  James  H.,  99. 

Lecompton,  103,  109,  125. 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  161,  167,  188, 
191. 

Lexington,  68. 

Liberia,  100. 

Lincoln,  Abraham  (grand- 
father of  the  President),  1-3, 
106. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  born,  4 ; 
motherless,  14 ;  his  first 
book,  17  ;  his  stepmother, 
18 ;  his  love  of  reading, 
21  ;  as  a  wrestler,  21 ;  saves 
life  of  a  neighbor,  22  ;  at- 
tends court,  23  ;  examples 
in  arithmetic,  24-5;  builds 
a  flat  boat,  26  ;  first  earn- 
ings, 26  ;  first  voyage  down 
the  Mississippi,  27;  ad- 
venture with  midnight  ma- 
rauders, 27-8 ;  first  view 
of  slavery,  28  ;  strikes  out 
for  himself,  31  ;  disaster  at 
New  Salem,  32  ;  his  inven- 
tion, 33  ;  second  voyage  to 
the  land  of  slavery,  33 ; 
settles  in  New  Salem,  33  ; 
encounter  with  Jack  Arm- 
strong, 34  ;  a  peacemaker, 
35  ;  studies  grammar,  36 ; 
his  first  law  books,  37  ;  can- 
didate for  the  Legislature, 
38  ;  in  the  Black  Hawk  War, 
38  ;  defeated  for  Legislature, 
41 ;  buys  a  half-interest  iu 
country  store,  42;  appointed 
postmaster,  43;  elected  to  the 
Legislature,  46 ;  political 
encounters,  48-9  ;  the  Lin- 
coln-Stone protest,  51  ;  re- 
moves to  Springfield,  52 ; 
partnership,  55;  love, 
**duel,"  marriage,  60-5; 
elected  to  Congress,  69 ; 
"Spot"    Resolutions,    71; 


Ind 


ex 


203 


proposes  anti-slavery  legis- 
lation, 78  ;  as  an  applicant 
for  office,  79 ;  to  his  step- 
brother, 81  ;  typical  cases, 
84-9  ;  as  presidential  elec- 
tor, 91 ;  his  reply  to  Douglas, 
94-6  ;  as  candidate  for  U.S. 
Senate,  97  ;  letter  to  Speed, 
loo-ioi  ;  views  on  colon- 
ization, loi  ;  debate  with 
Douglas,  104 ;  visits  Kansas, 
120;  speech  at  Cooper  Union, 
121  ;  nominated  for  the  pres- 
idency, 125-30 ;  elected, 
133 ;  his  religious  views, 
135  ;  journey  to  Washing- 
ton, 135-43  ;  inauguration, 
144-7  >  first  call  for  troops, 
150  ;  message  to  Congress, 
July,  1 86 1,  151  ;  overrules 
Fremont  and  Hunter,  156-8; 
letter  to  Horace  Greeley, 
160 ;  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation, 162  ;  letters  to  Mc- 
Clellan,  168  ;  letter  to  Hook- 
er, 170  ;  speech  at  serenade, 
173 ;  letter  to  Springfield, 
174  ;  address  at  Gettys- 
burg, 176  ;  address  to  Grant, 
180  ;  second  nomination, 
182 ;  call  for  troops,  183 ; 
second  inaugural,  185  ;  con- 
ferences with  Grant  and 
Sherman,  188  ;  visits  Rich- 
mond, 189  ;  his  last  speech, 
192  ;  assassinated,  194  ;  fu- 
neral, 195  ;  character,  197. 

I/incoln,  Edward  Baker,  80. 

Lincoln,  Isaac,  3. 

Lincoln,  Josiah,    and  Morde- 
cai,  J -3. 

Lincoln,  Mary,  and  Nancy,  3. 

Lincoln,  Robert,  80,  194. 

Lincoln,  Sarah,  4. 

Lincoln,   Thomas,    2,   3,  5-8, 
14-19,  30,  81,  90,  107,  130. 

Lincoln,  William  Wallace,  80. 

Loco-Focos,  75. 

Logan,  John,  50. 


Logan,  S.  T.,  55-6. 
Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  138. 
"Long  Nine,"  52. 
"  Lost  Townships,"  62. 
Louisville  Courier^  36. 
Lowell,  James    Russell,    122, 
197-8. 

McClellan,  George  B.,  165-9. 
Mason  and  Slidell,  152-5. 
Meade,  George  G.,  181. 
Mexican  War,  67,  71-4,  79. 
"  Milk-sick,"  13. 
Missouri,  82,  91,  98-102,   108, 

156. 
Missouri    Compromise,    91-2, 

94,  108. 
Montgomery,  149. 
Morgan,  E.  D.,  139. 

Nancy,  negro  girl,  86. 
Naturalized  foreigners,  119. 
Nebraska,  91-6,  103. 
New  Mexico,  78. 
New  Orleans,  28,  33,  87, 
New  Salem,  33,  44,  107. 
Nolin  Creek,  3. 
North  East,  138. 

OfFutt,  Denton,  32-3,  37. 
Ordinance  of  1787,  91. 
Oregon,  49,  79-80. 
Ossawattomie,  99. 

Patent,  Lincoln's,  33. 
Peninsular  Campaign,  166-7. 
Petersburg,  189,  191. 
Pickens,  Fort,  150. 
Pittsburg,  138. 
Plymouth  Church,  121. 
Polk,  James  K.,  68,  71. 
Pomeroy,  Silas  C,  99. 
Pope,  John,  167. 
Porter,  Fitz-John,  167. 
Prentice,  George  D.,  36. 

Rathbone,  Major,  193. 
Richmond,  126,  189,  191. 
Riney,  Zachariah,  4. 


204 


Index 


Robinson,  Charles,  99-100. 
Root,  Mr.,  78. 
Rutledge,  Ann,  60. 


Sangamon,  32,  50,  52,  61,  66, 

107. 
San  Jacinto,  153. 
Scott,  Winfield,  141,  145. 
Seward,   William  H.,   26,  76, 

128,  145,  153. 
Sheridan,  Philip,  188,  190. 
Sherman,  W.  T.,  183,  188. 
Shields,  James,  50,  61-3,  97. 
Slavery,    68,    70,    76,   78,  90, 

92-6. 
Snow  boys,  84-6. 
South  Mountain,  162. 
Sparrow,  Mrs.  Betsy,  13. 
Speed,  Joshua  F.,  52,  61. 
Spencer     County,     Ind.,     6, 

107. 
*'  Spot  "  Resolutions,  71. 
Springfield,  111.,  32,  50,  52,  53, 

60,  64,  no,  174,  196. 
"  Squatter  Sovereignty,"  92. 
Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  153. 
Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  72. 
Stone  and  Lincoln,  51. 
Stuart,  John  T.,  55. 
Stuart,  J.  E.  B.,  168. 
Sumner,    Charles,      76,    129, 

145. 
Sumter,  Fort,  149,  150. 


Taney,    R.    B.,    Chief-Justice, 

144. 
Taylor,  Richard,  49. 
Taylor,  Zachary,  39,  74,  76,  77, 

149. 
Texas,  69,  72,  74,  78. 
Thames,  73,  76. 
Tillman,  Senator,  198-9. 
Todd,  Mary,  60-4. 
Toombs,  Robert,  72. 
Topeka,  100. 
Trent  Affair,  153. 
Trenton,  17,  140,  169. 
Tribune,  160. 

Trumbull,  Lyman,  97,  115-6. 
Tyler,  John,  75- 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  57,  65-6, 

75,  77. 
Vandalia,  50. 
Vicksburg,  173,  180. 

Wade,  Benjamin,  145, 
Washington,  D.  C,  143,  165, 

191. 
Watauga  Creek,  3. 
Webster,  Daniel,  72,  76. 
Weems'sZz/"^  of  Washington, 

16,  17,  140. 
Welles,  Gideon,  153. 
"Wide-awakes,"  132. 
Wilkes,  Captain,  155. 
Wilson,  Henry,  76,  145. 
Wood,  Fernando,  139. 


Historic  Towns  of  New  England 

Edited  by  Lyman  P.  Powell.     With  introduction  by 
George  P.  Morris.    With  i6i  illustrations.    Large 

8°,  gilt  top $3  50 

Contents  :  Portland,  by  Samuel  T.  Pickard  ;  Rutland,  by 
Edwin  D.  Mead  ;  Salem,  by  George  D.  Latimer  ;  Boston,  by 
Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson  ;  Cambridge,  by  Samuel  A.  Eliot ; 
Concord,  by  Frank  A.  Sanborn  ;  Plymouth,  by  Ellen  Watson  ; 
Cape  Cod  Towns,  by  Katharine  Lee  Bates  ;  Deerfield,  by 
George  Sheldon  ;  Newport,  by  Susan  Coolidge  ;  Providence,  by 
William  B.  Weeden  ;  Hartford,  by  Mary  K.  Talcott  ;  New 
Haven,  by  Frederick  Hull  Cogswell. 

"These  monographs  have  permanent  literary  and  historical  value.  They 
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interesting  account  in  which  none  of  the  more  important  events  have  been 
omitted.  .  .  .  the  quaint  Cape  Cod  towns  that  have  clung  tenaciously  to 
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Historic  Towns  of  the  Middle  States 

Edited  by  Lyman  P.  Powell.      With  introduction  by 
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Ellen  H.  Walworth  ;  Schenectady,  by  Judson  S.  Landon ;  New- 
burgh,  by  Adelaide  Skeel ;  Tarrytown,  by  H.  W.  Mabie  ;  Brook- 
lyn, by  Harrington  Putnam  ;  New  York,  by  J.  B.  Gilder  ;  Buffalo, 
by  Rowland  B.  Mahany  ;  Pittsburgh,  by  S.  H.  Church  ;  Phila- 
delphia, by  Talcott  Williams  ;  Princeton,  by  W.  M.  Sloane ; 
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Historic  Towns  of  the  Southern  States 

Edited  by  Lyman  P.  Powell.  With  introduction  by 
W.  P.  Trent.  With  about  175  illustrations.  Large 
8°,  gilt  top $3  50 

Contents  :  Baltimore,  By  St.  George  L.  Sioussat ;  Annapolis 
and  Frederick,  by  Sara  Andrew  Shafer ;  Washington,  by  F.  A. 
Vanderlip  ;  Richmond,  by  William  Wirt  Henry  ;  Williamsburg, 
by  Lyon  G.  Tyler  ;  Wilmington,  N.  C,  by  J.  B.  Cheshire ; 
Charlestown,  by  Yates  Snowden  ;  Savannah,  by  Pleasant  A. 
Stoval ;  St.  Augustine,  by  G.  R.  Fairbanks  ;  Mobile,  by  Peter 
J.  Hamilton  ;  Montgomery,  by  George  Petrie  ;  New  Orleans, 
by  Grace  King  ;  Vicksburg,  by  H.  F.  Simrall  ;  Knoxville,  by 
Joshua  W.  Caldwell  ;  Nashville,  by  Gates  P.  Thruston  ;  Louis- 
ville, by  Lucien  V.  Rule  ;  Little  Rock,  by  George  B.  Rose. 

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Edited  by  Lyman  P.  Powell.  With  introduction  by 
R.  G.  Thwaites.  Two  volumes,  fully  illustrated, 
large  8° % 

Contents  :  Detroit,  by  Silas  Farmer  ;  Chicago,  by  Hon.  Lyman 
T.  Gage ;  St.  Louis,  by  F.  M.  Crunden ;  Monterey,  by  Harold 
Bake ;  San  Francisco,  by  Edwin  Markham ;  Portland,  by  Rev. 
Thomas  L,  Cole  ;  Madison,  by  Prof.  R.  G.  Thwaites  ;  Kansas 
City,  by  Charles  S.  Gleed  ;  Cleveland,  by  President  Charles  F. 
Thwing ;  Cincinnati,  by  Hon.  M.  E.  Ailes ;  Marietta,  by  Muriel 
C.  Dyar ;  Des  Moines,  by  Dr.  F.  I.  Herriot ;  Indianapolis,  by 
Hon.  Perry  S.  Heath ;  Denver,  by  J.  C.  Dana ;  Omaha,  by  Dr. 
Victor  Rosewater ;  Los  Angeles,  by  Florence  E.  Winslow  ;  Salt 
Lake  City,  by  Prof.  James  E.  Talmage  ;  Minneapolis  and  St. 
Paul,  by  Hon.  Charles  B.  Elhott ;  Santa  F6,  by  Dr.  F.  W. 
Hodge  ;  Vincennes,  by  W.  H.  Smith. 


Q.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  New  York  and  London 


I 


